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39 



The 

St. Lawrence River 

Historical — Legendary — Picturesque 



By 



George Waldo Browne 

Author of "Japan : The Place and the People," " Paradise of the Pacific ' 
" Pearl of the Orient," " Wood-Ranger Tales," etc. 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

Ube IKnfcfeerbocKer press 

1905 



(Js« 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Twu Copies rteceiveu 

MAY i6 lyU5 

GoDyngni tiiirj 

cussr ol, xxc nui 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1905 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



Ube ftnfcfterbocfcer ipress, flew fort 



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To 

sir james Mcpherson lemoine, d.c.l. 

THIS VOLUME OF 

THE STORIED ST. LAWRENCE 

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 

BY THE AUTHOR 



Preface 

WHILE the St. Lawrence River has been the 
scene of many important events connected 
with the discovery and development of a 
large portion of North America, no attempt has before 
been made to collect and embody in one volume a com- 
plete and comprehensive narrative of this great water- 
way. This is not denying that considerable has been 
written relating to it, and some of this told in an 
interesting and painstaking manner, but the various 
offerings have been scattered through many volumes, 
and most of these have soon become inaccessible to 
the general reader. Sir J. M. LeMoine, F.R.S.C, of 
Quebec, who has done so much to give the St.^Law- 
rence place in the literature of Canada, says of this 
noble river : 

It lies for a thousand miles between two great nations, yet 
neglected by both, though neither would be so great without it, — a 
river as grand as the La Plata, as picturesque as the Rhine, as pure 
as the Lakes of Switzerland. . . . The noblest, the purest, 
most enchanting river on all God's beautiful earth . . . has 
never yet had a respectable history, nor scarcely more than an 
occasional artist to delineate its beauties. 

The writer of this volume has undertaken as far as 
he could in a single work, to present a succinct and 



VI 



Preface 



unbroken account of the most important historic inci- 
dents connected with the river, combined with descrip- 
tions of some of its most picturesque scenery and frequent 
selections from its prolific sources of legends and tradi- 
tions. He has not hoped to treat so vast a subject fully 
in one volume, but he trusts that he will meet the expec- 
tations of the majority. In writing a work of this kind 
the difficulty has not been in finding sufficient material, 
but rather it has been in the selection of those matters 
which most closely concerned the subject in hand. 
Thus, he has felt obliged to pass over in silence, or 
describe hastily, many scenes that appear to deserve 
greater recognition. It does not seem practicable to 
make a continuous narrative in a work of this kind, but 
this plan has been followed as nearly as possible, and at 
the same time to give an intelligent account of the 
incidents in their order. When and where original 
documents and papers have not been available for 
consultation, only the best authorities have been ac- 
cepted and then not without comparison with others. 
It is hoped that but few errors have crept in, while it 
must be borne in mind that no two historians ever 
exactly agree on the local history of a place. 

The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness 
to the numerous persons whose works have proved 
especially valuable to him in his study of the subject. 
Among these it is a pleasure to mention Cartier's Bref 
Rdcit, Champlain's Narratives, Jesuit Relations, Haldi- 
mand Papers, Colden's Iroquois Nation, Prof. Grant's 



Preface vii 

Picturesque Canada, Willis's Canadian Scenery, Charle- 
voix's History of Canada, The Johnson Journals, MSS. 
of M. Fere, Winsor's Car tier to Frontenac, Haddock's 
Picturesque St. Lawrence, LeMoine's Maple Leaves, 
Parkman's Pioneers of France in the New World, and 
many others, besides those credited from time to time, 
in the following pages, not forgetting the numerous 
fugitive articles that have materially assisted him. He 
also wishes to record his appreciation of the valuable 
assistance given him by his friends who have so gener- 
ously lent their aid in securing data which was not 
always easy to obtain. 

In producing the hundred illustrations that accom- 
pany the work care has been taken to give as wide a 
scope as possible to the views belonging to the river. 
In this department many thanks are due to the artists 
and photographers for their efforts toward making the 
work attractive and interesting. The thanks of the 
publishers are due the Department of the Interior at 
Ottawa for a plan of the river. 

G. W. B. 



Contents 



CHAPTER I 

FAGS 

From Lake to Gulf i 

Physical and Picturesque Features of Canada's Remarkable River — 
Fifty Miles of Islands — Scenery of " Les Mille lies " — A Hundred 
Miles of Rapids — Shooting the Rapids — The Bright Path of Peril 
— Romantic Montreal — Twin Rows of Towns — Historic Quebec — 
Long Miles of Tide-Water — Then Out to Sea ! 

CHAPTER II 

In the Wake of Cartier 15 

His Voyages of Discovery — Planting the Cross at Gaspe — From Gulf to 
River — Scenery along the Lower St. Lawrence. 

CHAPTER III 

The Lower St. Lawrence 25 

The Oldest Town in America — Legend of Perce Rock — A Glimpse of 
the Saguenay — Cartier Reaches Stadacone, the Original Quebec. 

CHAPTER IV 

The Primitive Capital of Canada 34 

Cartier Keeps up the River to Hochelaga — Ascends Mount Royal — 
Description of the Stronghold of the Amerinds — Returns to France 
— Coming of Roberval — His Failure — Romance of the Isle of 
Demons. 

CHAPTER V 

The Coming of Champlain 50 

New Interest in France for America — Beginning of the Fur-Trade — 
Champlain, Pontgrave, and De Monts Appear on the Scene — The 
Lost Colonists — Settlement of St. Croix — First Blows for Quebec. 



Contents 



CHAPTER VI 

PAGE 

Founding of Quebec 61 

Champlain's First Expedition against the Iroquois — Discovers Lake 
Champlain — Scenery — Situation of the Five Nations — Rout of the 
Mohawks — Affairs at Quebec — The Rival Factors. 



CHAPTER VII 
From Fur-Trade to Commerce 75 

Cardinal Richelieu and his Hundred Associates — First Surrender of 
Quebec to the English — Comparison of the Settlements of the St. 
Lawrence Valley to those of Massachusetts Bay — Trade Troubles 
Increase — Founding of Three Rivers — Death of Champlain — His 
Character — The Great Company Make Concessions — Laziness De- 
nounced — Fisheries — Lack of Pilots — Early Shipbuilding — Fairs — 
Suppression of Knowledge — Ladies of Quebec — First Newspaper 
in Canada — First Steamship to Cross the Atlantic — Commerce of 
the St. Lawrence To-day. 



CHAPTER VIII 
The Wilderness Missions 95 

Four Recollet Priests Come to Quebec — Were Explorers as well as 
Missionaries — First Missions — Encouragement of Agriculture — 
Recollets Forced to Abandon their Work — Taken up by the Jesuits 
— Work Interrupted by the English — Westward from the Ottawa — 
The Thessaly of Olden Canada — The Huron Missions — The Mis. 
sion of the Martyrs — College Established at Quebec. 



CHAPTER IX 

The Beginning of Montreal . . . . . 107 

Founders of the Ursuline Convent in Quebec — Maisonneuve, the 
Champlain of Montreal — The Heroines of Ville-Marie — A Canadian 
Regulus — The Holy Wars of Early Montreal. 



Contents xi 

CHAPTER X 

PAGE 

Spartans of Canada 123 

The Story of Daulac and his Heroic Band, every Man of whom Died 
for New France — How Twenty-two Heroes Held Seven Hundred 
Iroquois Warriors at Bay. 

CHAPTER XI 
The Heroic Period . . . . . . . . 136 

La Salle and his Associates — Talon, the First Intendant — Frontenac 
— The Great Council with the Iroquois — Laval Restored to the Epi- 
scopate — Maids of Quebec — First Ship upon Lake Erie — Fate of 
La Salle — Frontenac Recalled — Treachery of Denonville — Massacre 
at La Chine — Return of Frontenac — His "Winter Raids" — Phips's 
Expedition — Death of Frontenac. 

CHAPTER XII 
Bushrangers and Voyageurs 162 

The Coureurs de Bois — A Unique Canadian Character — Their Dress 
and Habits — The Voyageurs — Rangers of Romance — Personal Ap- 
pearance — Their Roving Natures — Rowing Songs — Story of Cadieux 
— His " Lament" — Revelry at the Rendezvous — Homeward Bound. 

CHAPTER XIII 
When Quebec Fell . . 174 

Situation under Frontenac's Successors — Infamous Conduct of Bigot 
and Others — Declaration of War, 1756 — Arrival of Montcalm — 
His Early Victories — Driven back to Quebec — Wolfe and his Army 
Reach Isle of Orleans — Siege of Quebec — Wolfe's Famous Path to 
the Plains of Abraham— The Battle — Rout of the French — Wolfe 
and Montcalm Shot — Scenes that Followed. 

CHAPTER XIV 
Under the New Regime 192 

Second Battle of the Plains — Surrender of Montreal — Conquest 
Closes at Pontchartrain — Result — Campaign of 1775-76 — Fall of 
Montgomery — Arnold's Retreat — The " Hungry Year" — Heroism of 
the Canadians at Chateauguay — Naval Fight on Lake Champlain 
— Victory of McDonough — Hard Blow to the English — End of War 
of 181 2-1 5 — Result of this War to Canada — Important Periods in 
History — Final Union of the Provinces. 



xii Contents 

CHAPTER XV 

PAGE 

The Mysterious Saguenay 212 

Tadousac of Historic Interest — First Mission here — The Old Church 
—The Fur-Trade— The Cavern River— Sixty Miles of Mountain 
Walls— Ha-Ha Bay— Chicoutimi— Lake St. John— " The Grand 
Discharge " — Falls of Ouiatchouan — Cape Eternity. 

CHAPTER XVI 

Up from Tadousac . 224 

The Mission of the Montagnais — Story of the Last Missionary — Riviere 
du Lotip — Murray Bay — Giant of Cap aux Corbeaux — Earthquake 
of 1663 — A Vivid Scene — Isle of Hazels — A Legion of Mountains 
— First Mass in Canada — Baie St. Paul — Gouffre — Nature Asleep 
and Awake. 

CHAPTER XVII 

Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport .... 234 

Where Art and Nature Meet — A Climax in Mountains — The Island of 
Sorrow — Legend of Crane Island — Chateau Le Grande — Prisoner 
of the Jealous Wife — Cartier's Isle of Bacchus — Ancient Petit 
Cap — Divine Ste. Anne — Canadian Mecca — Story of the Saint — A 
Bird's-Eye View of Beauport — Falls of Montmorency. 

CHAPTER XVIII 

Picturesque Quebec . 248 

A Peopled Cliff — The Lower Town — A Spiral Street — Cape Diamond 
— The Citadel — A Relic of Bunker Hill — Rare Panorama of Country 
— Memorable Trip of Major Fitzgerald — His Unhappy Love Ro- 
mance — "Ribbon Farms" — Scene of Cartier's "White Winter" 
— Two Acres of Clover, Daisies, and Buttercups — Road to Charles- 
bourg — Chateau de Beaumanoir — Ruins, Flowers, and Vines — His- 
toric Names — Story of the Acadian Maid— Old Fortress — Its Secret 
Passage — Plains of Abraham. 

CHAPTER XIX 
Sights and Shrines of Quebec 260 

Monuments to Wolfe, Montcalm, and " Aux Braves" — Ste. Foye 
Road — Mount Hermon — Chateau St. Louis — Portraits of Celebrities 
— Chateau Frontenac — " The Golden Dog" — Story of M. Phillibert 
— University of Laval — "Notre Dame des Victoires" — Graves of 
Richelieu and Laval — A Winter Night — Laughter and Good Cheer. 



Contents xiii 

CHAPTER XX 

PAGE 

From Quebec to Montreal 269 

North Bank — Sillery — Indian Settlements in the St. Lawrence Valley 
— St. Francis — St. Regis — Three Rivers — Poetical Names — An 
Atmosphere of Age — Peasant Population — Three Types — Early 
Farmhouses — The Harvest Festival — Christmas-tide — A True Son 
of Old Normandy. 

CHAPTER XXI 
The Region of Rivers 285 

The Chaudiere Valley — Watershed of Northern New England — 
Falls of the Chaudiere — Eastern Townships — As Seen by the Early 
Voyagers — A Primeval Picture — Feathered Denizens of the Woods 
— Noble Old Trees — Memory of Cartier's Men — Lake St. Peter — 
Town of St. Francis — St. Francis River — An Old-Time War-Trail 
— Rogers's Raid — The Loyalists — Yamaska — A Vista of Mountains 
— The Richelieu Valley — Extract from an Old Journal — Saintly 
Names — A Ghostly Bivouac. 

CHAPTER XXII 
Canada's " White City " 300 

Oldest Town on the St. Lawrence — Victoria Bridge — Helen's Island 
— "All 's Lost but Honour" — History and Tragedy — First Steamer 
on the St. Lawrence — Churches — Notre Dame — Great Bell — Mid- 
night Mass — The Devil and the Wind — Grave of le Rat — Recollet 
Gate — Public Parks — Terrible Fate of the Four Iroquois Brothers 
— Noted Homes — Chateau de Ramezay — Scene of Momentous 
Events — Hallowed by the Presence of Famous Men — Old Kitchen 
— Portrait Gallery — Future of Montreal. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
Climbing the Rapids 323 

The White Steamer — Hardships of the Early Portages — " Roads of 
Iron " — La Chine Canal — Nature Outwitted — The Place of Captives 
— Lake St. Louis — The Ottawa — Once a Part of the Great River 
— Lake St. Francis — Sunset on the River — Cornwall — Crossing the 
Line — St. Regis — Its Historic Bell — First Steamer to Run the 
Rapids — How it was Done — Prescott — Ancient Landmarks — Grave 
of Barbara Heck — "Patriot War" — Ill-starred Adventures — The 
Fenian Insurrection. 



xiv Contents 



CHAPTER XXIV 

PAGE 

The Gateway to the West 338 

Mission of La Presentation — Ogdensburg — Brockville — Romance of 
the Thousand Islands — A Daughter's Devotion to a Father — Carle- 
ton Island — " Lost Channel" — Memory of a Bonaparte — Origin of 
the Feud between the Iroquois and the Algonquins — Legend of the 
League of the Five Nations — Tradition of Hiawatha — Cooper's 
"Station Island" — Gananoque — " The Place of the Deer" — A 
Poet's Tribute — Kingston, the Limestone City — Conclusion. 



Index 



355 



Illustrations 



PAGE 

View of Quebec, Lower Town . . . Frontispiece 

Modern Attractions of the Thousand Islands . . 6 
From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

Long Sault Rapids 8 

From a drawing by W. H. Bartlett. 

Shooting the La Chine Rapids 10 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

View of the City of Quebec 12 

Portrait of Jacques Cartier 16 v 

From B. Suite's Histoire des Canadiens-Fran$ais (Montreal, 
1882-84). 

The Voyage of Jacques Cartier to Canada, 1534 . . 20 

From an old print. 

Gaspe Basin 26 

Perce Rock 28 

Riviere du Loup Falls 32 

Cartier's Visit to Hochelaga, 1535 . . . -34 

From an old print. 

Cartier on His Way up the St. Lawrence River . .40 

Manor de Cartier, St. Malo 50 

Samuel De Champlain 52 

From the O'Niel copy of the Hamel Painting. 

1 
A Squall on Lake St. Peter 58 

From a drawing by W. H. Bartlett. 
xv 



xvi Illustrations 



PAGE 



Old Fort Chambly 64 

From a drawing by W. H. Bartlett. 

The Champlain Monument, Quebec 72 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

The St. Louis Gate, Quebec 76 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

The French Flag in the Time of Champlain ... 82 

Scene on the Jacques Cartier River .... 86 

Habitation de Quebec 92 

From Champlain's Works, rare Paris ed. of 1613. 

Chateau St. Louis (1694-1834), Destroyed by Fire in 

1834 9 6 

The Rapids Above the Cedars 100 

From a drawing by W. H. Bartlett. 

The Indian Village of Caughnawaga .... 104 
From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

Portrait of Marie Guyard (Mere Marie de L'Incar- 

nation) 108 

From B. Suite's Histoire des Canadiens-Francais. 

Portrait of Maisonneuve 116 

Ibid. 

The Junction of the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence 

Rivers 126 

From a drawing by W. H. Bartlett. 

Grandmere Rock, St. Maurice River .... 130 

Portrait of Laval, First Canadian Bishop . . . 136 

Ibid. 

La Salle House, Lower La Chine Road, Montreal . 138 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

A Summer Scene on the Shore of Lake Memphremagog 144 
From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

Portrait and Autograph of Cavalier De La Salle . 148 

From B. Suite's Histoire des Canadiens-Francais. 



Illustrations 



XVll 



Frontenac . 

From Hebert's Statue at Quebec. 

View of the St. Lawrence River, from Citadel, Quebec 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

St. Patrick's Hole, St. Ferreol 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

The St. Lawrence River in Winter 

Portrait of Montcalm 

From B. Suite's Histoire des Canadiens-Franfais. 

The Louisbourg Gun in the Yard of the Chateau de 
Ramezay, Montreal .... 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal 

Cap Rouge . 

Major-General James Wolfe 
Montmorency Falls .... 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

The Citadel, Quebec, from Parliament Building 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

In the Days of the Pioneers 

From a drawing by W. H. Bartlett. 

The Old Tadousac Church 

A Group of Montagnais Indians 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

The Little Saguenay .... 
From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

Ouiatchouan Falls .... 

Pointe-a-pic, Murray Bay . 

Cap Tourmente (St. Joachim) 

St. John's Church, Isle of Orleans . 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

Bonne Ste. Anne — Old Church 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 



PAGE 

*54 

160 

164 

170 
176 , 

180 



190 
196 



204 

212 

214 

218 

222 
226 

234 
240 

242 



XV111 



Illustrations 



Cape Diamond, Showing. Tablet to the Memory of 

Montgomery 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

The Break-neck Steps, Quebec .... 

Natural Steps, Montmorency River . 
From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

The Ruins of Chateau Bigot .... 

A Distant View of the Jacques Cartier Monument 



The Golden Dog 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 



Sillery Cove 



A French Canadian Farmer 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

A French Canadian Homestead (St. Prime) 

Chaudiere River 



Chaudiere Falls 

From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 

A Toss-up. A Form of Canadian Sport. . 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

A Spill on the Toboggan Slide .... 

The Ice Palace, Montreal, 1885 

Dominion Square, Montreal .... 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

View of Montreal from Mount Royal 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

The Chateau de Ramezay, Montreal 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

Kitchen in the Chateau de Ramezay, Montreal 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

Victoria Square, Montreal .... 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 



254 

258 

260 
262 
264 

268 
276 

278 
286 
288 

290 

296 
302 
306 

310 

312 

3l8 

320 



Illustrations 



XIX 



An Old Windmill on Lower La Chine Road, Montreal 324 
From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 



The Methodist Church at Prescott 

Founded by Barbara Heck. Her grave is marked by a cross. 

The Old Windmill at Prescott .... 

View of the Thousand Islands from Devil's Oven . 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 

Below the " Rift,' 1 ' Thousand Islands 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal 

Among the Thousand Islands 

From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal 

Map of the St. Lawrence River 



• 334 

• 336 

• 34o 

• 346 

• 35o 
at end 



The St. Lawrence River 



Chapter I 
From Lake to Gulf 

Physical and Picturesque Features of Canada's Remarkable River — Fifty Miles of 
Islands — Scenery of " Les Mille lies" — A Hundred Miles of Rapids — 
Shooting the Rapids — The Bright Path of Peril — Romantic Montreal 
— Twin Rows of Towns — Historic Quebec — Long Miles of Tide-Water 
—Then Out to Sea! 

RIVERS play an important part in the history 
of a country. They reflect more clearly the 
character of the settlers than any other natu- 
ral boundary. They were, in truth, the one divid- 
ing line acknowledged by the American aborigines, 
and by them, as a rule, the limitations of the tribes be- 
came fixed, so far as it was possible for a people with 
unwritten laws to establish their domains. Along the 
banks of these unmapped streams clustered their conical 
tents ; here they held their councils of war ; here they 
celebrated their festivals of peace ; here they fished and 
hunted ; here they staked their fates, and won, and 
lost. These streams became their main highways of 
travel. Along their sedgy courses they sped their 



2 The St. Lawrence River 

light canoes, leaving in their wake no stone disturbed, 
no twig turned, and scarce a ripple upon the surface of 
the water. The same boulders and smaller stones that 
strewed the pathway of the earliest voyager remained 
in the path of the last. Upon reaching the fountain- 
head of a river recourse was had to a land journey 
to the nearest water, the craft which had been their 
means of transit, as well as their rude " baggage," 
borne on their shoulders over the intervening portage, 
known for this reason as a "carrying-place." 

Upon the advent of the white man these rivers again 
became the natural paths of the explorers, their banks 
the homesteads of the pioneers ; later, the sites for 
cities builded through the industries arising from the 
mills and manufactories whose power was furnished by 
their waterfalls. Thus, in many ways, they became 
closely identified with the progress of civilisation. 

The history and description of a river should be 
written, it would seem, by starting at its fountain-head 
and following its course to that larger body of water 
where it yields its life and treasures. Unfortunately 
for this purpose, the tide of human events runs counter 
to the current of most rivers, and the storied St. Law- 
rence is no exception. If this is true the series of inci- 
dents that have helped form its history will be better 
comprehended after an outline of its natural career 
from lake to gulf ; each rapid, lakelet, rocky bluff, and 
tributary, having a double interest when linked with its 
ancient and now silent glory, is the story of human 



From Lake to Gulf 3 

achievement, some deed of heroism, sacrifice, or suffer- 
ing endured by the brave race that led the way along 
its trackless aisles bordered by mighty forests. 

The St. Lawrence River, in its most limited bounds, x 
begins at the foot of Lake Ontario, opposite the city 
of Kingston, and flows generally in a north-easterly 
direction about 750 miles, when its flood mingles with 
that of the gulf by the same name. Treated in a 
more extended manner, according to the ideas of the 
early French geographers, and taking either the river 
and lake of Nipigon, on the north of Superior, or the 
river St. Louis, flowing from the south-west, it has a 
grand total length of over two thousand miles. With 
its tributaries it drains over four hundred thousand 
square miles of country, made up of fertile valleys 
and plateaux inhabited by a prosperous people, desolate 
barrens, deep forests, where the foot of man has not 
yet left its imprint. 

Seldom less than two miles in width, it is two and 
one-half miles wide where it issues from Ontario, and 
with several expansions which deserve the name of lake 
it becomes eighty miles in width where it ceases to be 
considered a river. The influence of the tide is felt as 
far up as Lake St. Peter, about one hundred miles above 
Quebec and over five hundred miles from the gulf, 
while it is navigable for sea-going vessels to Montreal, 
eighty miles farther inland. Rapids impede navigation 
above this point, but by means of canals continuous com- 
munication is obtained to the head of Lake Superior. 



4 The St. Lawrence River 

If inferior in breadth to the mighty Amazon, if it 
lacks the length of the Mississippi, if without the 
stupendous gorges and cataracts of the Yang-tse-Kiang 
of China, if missing the ancient castles of the Rhine, if 
wanting the lonely grandeur that still overhangs the 
Congo of the Dark Continent, the Great River of 
Canada has features as remarkable as any of these. It 
has its source in the largest body of fresh water upon the 
globe, and among all of the big rivers of the world it is 
the only one whose volume is not sensibly affected by 
the elements. In rain or in sunshine, in spring floods 
or in summer droughts, this phenomenon of waterways 
seldom varies more than a foot in its rise and fall. By 
this statement it should not be understood that the 
river maintains every year the same depth of water, as 
from other causes it varies somewhat. One of the his- 
torians of its upper section', Mr. J. A. Haddock, says : 

The level of the river differs, one year with another, the extreme 
range being about seven feet. These changes are not the immediate 
effects of the excessive rains, such as cause floods in other rivers, 
but appear to be occasioned by the different quantities of rain fall- 
ing, in some years more than in others, and which finds its way 
down months afterwards. A series of several years of high water, 
and others of low water are known to have occurred. The level of 
the river is also affected by strong prevailing winds, blowing up or 
down the lake, and several instances of rapid fall, followed by a re- 
turning wave of extraordinary height, have been reported. 

While favoured with America's Great Lakes as the 
reservoir from which to draw its supply, the St. Law- 
rence has not been niggardly treated in the offerings of 
tributary streams, some of which are themselves noble 



From Lake to Gulf 5 

rivers, the largest being the Ottawa and Saguenay. 
Hundreds of streams, many of them deserving the 
designation of river, come winding down from the region 
of the northland, or from the great watershed of the 
south. Canada is a country of canons and waterfalls, 
and the streams that seek the St. Lawrence run tortuous 
races before they reach the parent river. Some come 
tipped up edgewise, like the mysterious Saguenay ; 
others come flattened like the Montmorency, rolled so 
thin that the sunlight breaks through ; but one and all 
roll and tumble, toss and twist, and wear the white veil 
of mist. Beside Canada, New England, with her rivers 
and mountains, must be content to take a second place 
in the matter of waterfalls. 

Where the great Laurentian chain of mountains, 
running from east to west across Canada, swings south- 
ward to enter Northern New York, it drops a link, as it 
were, so as to allow the last of the big lakes an outlet in 
the channel of the St. Lawrence, which moves slug- 
gishly among the thousand islands helping to form the 
most picturesque archipelago in the world, its nearest 
rival being that other section of lakes and islands, Fin- 
land. The actual number of the islands of this Lake of 
the Thousand Isles is really nearer two thousand, 
though this discrepancy would not be noticed by the 
new-comer into this enchanting realm. Nor can it 
matter greatly to the daily voyager, as he threads the 
winding passages of the interior, or glides along the 
broader way leading into the American channel. This 



6 The St. Lawrence River 

was the old Indian trail, and along this course followed 
the adventurous Champlain, who was the first white man 
to gaze upon this entrancing scene. 

Leaving the city of Kingston, which stands upon 
the site of that frontier town, Cataraqui, with its Mar- 
tello towers and decidedly military appearance, the 
course of modern travel leads to the lively American 
town, Clayton, noted as a summer resort. Below this 
thriving village, island after island studding the placid 
lake rises into view, the finger-tips of the great moun- 
tain range. On one of these larger isles is located 
the " Thousand Island Park," while a little below is the 
fashionable resort known as the " Saratoga of the St. 
Lawrence," Alexandria Bay, its shores the foreground 
for many elegant villas and summer hotels. Gazing 
upon the numerous cottages now dotting the islands, 
the mind of the thoughtful observer quickly spans the 
years that have seen this beautiful region opened to the 
admiring sight-seer ; to the period, not so very remote, 
when this lovely expanse of river and isles was known to 
I the romantic red man as Manatoana, or " The Garden 
'■ of the Great Spirit." As usual, the Amerind expressed 
in fitting term the natural beauties of the spot named. 
Covered with the ancient forest, fitting haunts for the 
wild deer, the little bays and inlets the common resort 
of water-fowl, it must indeed have been a paradise for 
the dusky hunter "and fisher. It is well that all of these 
natural attractions have not vanished, for still many of 
the isles 



. *:' t - 




£ _• 



O £ 



r js 



From Lake to Gulf 7 

are bristling with firs and pines; others lie open like a level field 
awaiting the husbandman's care. Some are but arid rock, as wild 
and picturesque as those seen among the Faroe Islands; others have 
a group of trees or a solitary pine, and others bear a crown of flow- 
ers or a little hillock of verdure like a dome of malachite, among 
which the river slowly glides, embracing with equal fondness the 
great and the small, now receding afar and now retracing its course, 
like the good Patriarch visiting his domains, or like the god Proteus 
counting his snowy flocks. 

From Clayton to Chippewa Bay the river, with its 
clustered isles, is like a fairyland, the thousand and one 
gems brightened by the fantastic imagery of the be- 
holder. Now an island comes into view which bears 
a happy resemblance to some spot known in child- 
hood. Yonder is a bit of rock-landscape diamond- 
shaped, the gleam and glitter of the gem in its setting 
rather than in itself. Close by, in marked contrast to 
the other's barren aspect, is a star-pointed plot of green- 
sward, adorned by three trees whose interlacing branches 
form the outline of a cross. Below, like a huge hand 
laid upon the waters, is the green-bordered isle of the 
"lost lover" of Indian legend. The pointing finger 
of this island hand still shows the way the dusky 
maid went in search of her recreant lover, never 
to return. And everywhere art has combined with 
nature to enliven if not to enhance the scene. 
Upon a tiny island, barely large enough to afford 
it standing room, is a modest cottage. Over the 
brown shingle of the rocky beach of a larger island 
loom the dark grey walls of a western-world imitation 
of the Castle of Chillon, but happily the white face of 



8 The St. Lawrence River 

its prisoner, made immortal by Byron, is not to be seen 
at its windows. 

The last of the Thousand Islands are called " The 
Three Sisters," on account of their resemblance and in- 
timate relations to each other, a beautiful trio that have 
been the silent witnesses of the coming and going of 
the races of men claiming lordship over the wonderland 
of the noble river. 

Brockville, " the Queen City of the St. Lawrence," 
named for General Brock, is situated on the Canadian 
shore, below the last of the islands, with Morristown on 
the New York bank nearly opposite. Below these, 
Ogdensburg, on the American side, and Prescott on 
the other, stand also vis-a-vis, like sentinels long on 
duty. Then the Massena Landing is passed, and the 
approach to the famous rapids is begun. 

There is a concealed velocity to the current of the 
St. Lawrence which we do not realise, though at times 
conscious of passing along swift water, until we are forci- 
bly reminded of the troubled condition of the river, and 
are told that we are entering the first of the series of 
rapids marking the downward flight of the waters. The 
Galops are passed when we come in sight of du Plat, 
thrilled with the pleasant sensation of excitement, and 
longing for a repetition of the exhilarating experience. 
We may be cowards at heart, but there is a fascination 
in this mild form of danger which arouses our interest. 
Aware that the descent just made was merely the pre- 
lude to the grand march ahead, as if nature were alive 



From Lake to Gulf 9 

to the best effect to be produced, we approach with 
quickening pulse the nine miles of rapids known as the 
Long Sault. The river is now divided by a string of 
islands. The roar of the surges now breaks solemnly 
upon the ear, and the gaze is greeted with whirlpools of 
foaming waters and curved lines of yellow flood charg- 
ing some hidden enemy which flings it back with furious 
defiance, only to receive again and again the rallying 
legions forever beating its rock-ribbed front. Farther 
than the eye can reach extend these series of rifts, now 
capped with white plumes, anon darkling with rage ; at 
one moment rushing madly past jutting headlands, and 
then leaping with bounds the broken barriers in its 
pathway. 

The engineer shuts off the steam, but the current 
carries us on at the rate of twenty miles an hour. The 
pilot, a descendant of the dusky boatmen who navigated 
the river in their light barks long ere the coming of the 
white race, stands with confidence at his post, every 
sense on the alert, and the most timid feels safe under 
his guidance. Thus one and all give their undivided 
attention to watching the progress of the steamer glid- 
ing downward amid the pitch and toss of the broken 
current, the froth and foam upon the dishevelled waters, 
the bended breakers that wind about her pathway like 
the fateful combers of some reef-bound coast. Upon 
getting better command of ourselves, we are surprised 
at the smoothness with which the great boat follows its 
winding course, and the swift and faithful compliance it 



io The St. Lawrence River 

yields to the man at the wheel. Upon one hand a big 
white cap of foam covers a snarly head of rocks ; on the 
other, a granite arm reaches out to seize us as we sweep 
past, and though we can see it is a dozen fathoms too 
short to reach us, we breathe easier when it is left astern. 
Held fast in the granite teeth of a ledge an ill-fated raft 
is seen not far away, the sight an unpleasant suggestion 
of what might happen to us. 

At last, with pleasure and regret striving for the 
mastery over our feelings, calm water is seen in the 
distance, and we realise we have passed the long rapids, 
while the steamer moves gently on where the reunited 
streams mingle their waters with a tranquillity quite 
remarkable considering the recent display of violence. 
Below the Long Sault the river widens so as to form 
Lake St. Francis, five and one-half miles in width and 
twenty-five miles in length. Here and there an island 
dots the placid surface. This soon proves to be the 
training-ground for another charge in its downward 
march from the lake to the gulf, the preparation for a 
series of plunges down four rapids known as Couteau, 
Cedars, Split Rock, and Cascades, the quartette so 
closely connected as really to form one continuous 
rift. 

Upon reaching the foot of this watery stairway, we 
come upon another body of calm water, another muster- 
ground, named Lake St. Louis. The distant range of 
mountains — a spur of the Adirondacks — which has 
loomed so long and plain upon our view, now grows in- 



From Lake to Gulf n 

distinct, and we turn from its peaceful outlines to watch 
the river-banks gradually drawing nearer, as if fearful 
of giving their charge too great scope of freedom. 
Soon the misty form of Mount Royal appears on the 
horizon. 

Then the quickening current again speaks of rapids, 
of the running of a swift and furious race with fate, as 
if the elements were forever fleeing from gaolers that 
would bind them in fetters of granite. The water is 
whipped into serpents of foam, coiling about the rocky 
heads thrust above the surface, betraying with added 
ferocity the rage they would seem to conceal. Borne 
on once more solely by the current, the boat settles 
under our feet as if it were slipping from under us. 
The thrill, the exhilaration, the excitement, the hazard, 
the fury of the eddies, the foam of the surf, the twists 
and mazes of the turgid stream that tend to bewilder 
the onlooker, the efforts of the man at the wheel, the 
watchfulness of the pilot, the anxiety of the captain, 
— all these are doubled against our previous experi- 
ences, and we have run the famous rapids of Lachine ! 

v The river again widens and assumes a tranquil ap- 
pearance. The wood-fringed shores of Nun's Island are 
passed, and then the steamer sweeps proudly under the 
far-reaching spans of Victoria Bridge, over two miles in 
length, and considered one of the great engineering feats 
of the nineteenth century. Then Montreal, Canada's 
great metropolis, the city of churches and cathedrals, 
massive business buildings, commodious hotels, and 



12 The St. Lawrence River 

magnificent parks, with the yet more magnificent 
mountain rising in the background, comes into view. 

Tried no more with rapids, the great river, like the 
mighty stream it is, sweeps calmly and majestically be- 
tween high, precipitous banks, or where the shores are 
low and level, with continuous rows of white-walled 
cottages, with groups of these dwellings at regular 
intervals forming a well-ordered hamlet, from among 
whose tree-tops rises the spire of a church, proving 
the inhabitants to be a religious people. Forty-five 
miles below Montreal, at the mouth of the Richelieu 
River, stands the thriving town of Sorel. 

Another broadening of the river forms Lake St. Peter, 
nine miles wide and twenty-five miles long. Then the 
St. Francois River, flowing down past the picturesque 
and historic Indian village by the same name, enters 
the St. Lawrence ; on the north another stream joins 
the larger river through three channels, giving name 
to the bustling town of Three Rivers ; then the namesake 
of a famous Indian chief, Batiscan, the inlet of Jacques 
Cartier River, an increasing ruggedness of the river- 
banks ; the mouth of the Chaudiere ; and then, more 
conspicuous than all else, rises upon the view the 
ancient stronghold of New France, — the Gibraltar of 
America, — Quebec. Here is more history wrapped in 
the silence of grey battlements ; more romance buried 
under antique walls; more mystery veiled by the at- 
mosphere of departed centuries, than is to be found 
elsewhere in America. Here the luxurious splendour of 



From Lake to Gulf 13 

the Old World mingled with the barbaric simplicity of 
the New ; here was cradled a new empire for France ; 
and here, upon her battlefields, was decided the fate of 
nations. 

Quebec is about midway between the lakes and the 
gulf, and with still four hundred miles to journey the 
St. Lawrence sweeps on toward the sea, its current now 
the servant of the ocean tide, passing leisurely in suc- 
cession islands strung upon a broad band of silver, 
picturesque villages under the dedication of church 
spires, an occasional tributary stream, the grandest of 
which is the deep-volumed Saguenay, frowning points 
of land and rock, mountains whose ruggedness is soft- 
ened by the enchantment of distance. 

Rivers have at least one human trait. They are 
invariably loath to render over their treasures, to yield 
unto the sea the tribute they have brought from hills 
and woods through many a difficult passage and peril- 
ous rapid. As the end draws near they move with 
increasing sluggishness. The Great River of China, 
after leaping dizzy mountain cliffs and running a furi- 
ous race along a thousand leagues of rapids and gorges, 
slows its gait at last, and finally, in its desperation, 
heaps up bars of sand in a vain effort to save itself 
from the hungry sea. The Amazon deploys right and 
left over the adjacent country, as if bent upon swallow- 
ing instead of being swallowed, until it is difficult to 
distinguish between river and ocean. The Mississippi, 
after overflowing its banks for miles, creeps sullenly 



14 The St. Lawrence River 

over sand-bars it is constantly building up, and pours 
its flood into the gulf through several avenues. The 
Great River of Canada forms no exception. Gradu- 
ally widening after leaving Quebec, at Point de Montes 
it suddenly makes a broader pathway than ever, but 
if moving through Amazonian portals it still clings to 
well-defined shores for another two hundred miles — 

Then out to the sea with a stately sweep, 

It mingles its tide with the mighty deep, 
As it has for a thousand years. 



Chapter II 
In the Wake of Cartier 

His Voyages of Discovery — Planting the Cross at Gaspe — From Gulf to River — 
Scenery along the Lower St. Lawrence. 

THE St. Lawrence is the only large river traced 
upon Novus Ordz's, which is claimed to be the 
first general atlas of the Western Hemisphere ; 
and whether done from the knowledge of actual ex- 
ploration or from imagination, it became in Europe the 
most famous waterway in America before the Hudson, 
the Mississippi, or any other stream had created a 
ripple on the surface of discovery. 

In regard to its navigation, tradition says one 
Thomas Aubert sailed up the river, in the early part of 
the sixteenth century, as far as Tadousac, and brought 
back an Indian captive. This seems, at first glance, to 
be the earliest account of an ascent by a European, 
still there is strong evidence to show that before this 
adventurous explorer from Dieppe made this voyage 
the Normans, Basques, and Malouns had ascended the 
river as far as he claimed, to fish and to trade with 
the natives for furs. How much farther these rugged 
fishermen went there is nothing to show, though it 

15 



1 6 The St. Lawrence River 

is quite likely they went as far as the present site of 
Quebec, where there was an Indian town known as 
Stadacone. 

Apropos of this interesting subject, Mr. W. H. H. 
Murray wrote of these voyages of the Basque, while he 
was enjoying a yacht trip up the Saguenay : 

There is reason to think that before the Christ was born the old 
Iberian ships were here ; and their descendants, the Basques, con- 
tinued the commerce which their progenitors had established, and 
who had rendezvoused here 1500 years after the Galilean name 
had conquered kingdoms and empires. The Norsemen were here, 
we know, a thousand years ago, and many a night the old sea kings 
of the north drank out of their mighty drinking horns good health 
to the distant ones and honours to Thor and Odin. Then, late 
enough to have his coming known to letters, and hence recorded, 
Jacques Cartier came, himself a Breton, and hence cousin in 
blood to the Basque whalers, whom he found here engaged in a 
pursuit which their race had followed before Rome was founded or 
Greece was born, before Jerusalem was builded, or even Egypt, 
perhaps, planted as a colony. St. Augustine, Plymouth Rock, Que- 
bec — these are mushroom growths, creations of yesterday, tradition- 
less, without a legend and without a fame, beside this harbour of 
Tadousac, whose history, along a thin but strong cord of sequence, 
can be traced back for a thousand years, and whose connection 
with Europe is older than the name ! 

Passing into the more substantial structure of history 
we find three names standing out with prominence in 
the narrative of our river : Cartier, the Pathfinder ; 
Champlain, the Father of French colonisation ; Fronte- 
nac, the Saviour of New France. Fortunately the first 
two left very full accounts of their discoveries, that of 
the second being especially valuable in the detail and 
fulness of his descriptions of the new country and its 




JACQUES CARTIER. 




In the Wake of Cartier 1 7 

denizens. Even if not as complete, no narrative given 
to the eager seekers after knowledge at that anxious 
period threw so much light upon the New World as 
the Bref Recit of the redoubtable Breton who was 
foremost of this trio. 

The opening of the sixteenth century was the dawning 
of a new day upon the long, moonless night of the Mid- 
dle Ages. Columbus had startled Europe with the out- 
come of his hazardous voyages, and Spain, reaping the 
glory, stood at the head of the leading Powers of the 
civilised world. What Rome had done in the van of 
conquest Castile promised to repeat. In his overflow 
of exultation her king very magnanimously divided the 
earth with the king of Portugal, who was disposed to 
believe he had a joint interest in the matter, and their 
popes issued a papal bull to that effect. The spirit of 
the times and the audacity of kings is shown by the 
ruler of France, who went Ferdinand one better by 
laying claim to all of the New World. Thus we see 
marked upon the maps and globes of that day the con- 
tinents of North and South America under the name 
of "New France!" 

The assumption for this bold claim was based upon 
the discoveries of Verrazzano in 1524, and those of 
Jacques Cartier, 1534-36. As the first of these intrepid 
navigators only sailed along the coast of the unexplored 
country, I have no occasion to speak of the fruits of 
his voyages. Those of the latter have a direct bearing 
upon the subject in hand, for he penetrated so far into 



1 8 The St. Lawrence River 

the interior as to become not only the discoverer but the 
explorer of the St. Lawrence. 

Little is known of Cartier outside of his voyages to 
America. He belonged to a race of hardy fishermen, 
and had, it is claimed, made several fishing voyages 
between St. Malo and the shores of Labrador, until he 
had become imbued with the idea that it would be 
worth his while to penetrate into the interior of the 
country, whose shores, if inhospitable and forbidding, 
yet beckoned him hither with the finger of mystery. 
Others speak of him as a corsair. Let which will be 
right, or both for that matter, it is certain he was a bold 
navigator, who had sailed the seas to such an extent he 
had created for himself a confidence among his friends 
and patrons that he was equal to the undertaking of 
leading the way for any enterprise France might under- 
take in the unknown West. He was in the prime of 
life, being forty-three years of age at the time he pro- 
posed his daring scheme, and the opportunity was pro- 
pitious. Central Europe was shaken by the spirit of 
a religious revolution. Germany was under the rod 
of Luther, and France was trembling before the attacks 
of Calvin. In both cases Catholicism was the sufferer 
and it was argued that the success of Spain was due 
largely to her fidelity to this church. Thus Francis the 
First, King of France, whose piety was equalled only by 
his political ambition, eagerly seized upon the prospect 
of recompensing his church for its loss in the Old 
World by opening up a field in New France. 



In the Wake of Cartier 19 

St. Malo stood upon a peninsula, whose point ran 
out into the water so as to form a small harbour, left 
nearly dry at the ebb of the tide, which went out with 
a roar and rush quite terrific. Naturally the men of 
such a place were experienced sailors, and it is certain 
none stood higher than the master pilot, Jacques 
Cartier, who upon the morning of April 20, 1534, felt 
his heart bound with freedom as the tide lifted upon its 
mighty bosom his small vessels, and bore them resolute- 
ly away upon their long voyage. Among the friends 
who bade the departing sailors a hearty god-speed, not 
even the most sanguine could have dreamed of the out- 
come of the undertaking. 

The passage of the Atlantic was made without 
serious delays, but off the shore of Newfoundland, 
Cartier experienced such stormy weather that, after 
going as far as the Strait of Belle Isle, he was fain to 
turn south, by this manoeuvre accomplishing the first 
navigation of the coast. Rounding the Magdalene 
Islands he entered the gulf, and sailing along the shore 
of Prince Edward's Island, he made on the 8th of July 
the Bay of Chaleur, giving it the name by which it is 
now known from the excessive heat of that day. 

The exact course followed by him after this is not 
clearly shown, though this is a matter of small import- 
ance. Where the land juts out into the gulf as a sort 
of dividing line between that body of water and its 
generous affluent, he landed to implant the first cross 
upon the shores of the New World. To appease the 



20 The St. Lawrence River 

fears of the wondering natives he explained that he was 
doing it as a beacon-post for other voyagers likely to 
follow him. Then, enticing two of the men on board 
and impressing them as pilots, he sailed away from the 
solitary but magnificent shore, whose scenery has not 
yet been appreciated save by an occasional artist who 
has reached the ancient hamlet of Ste. Anne des Monts 
and Cape Gaspe. It has its own peculiar attractions, 
however, and the day cannot be far distant when the 
southward tide of tourists will find them, and the 
quiet simplicity of the humble fisher- and farmer- 
folk will be swallowed up in the train of modern fashion 
and revelry. 

Highly elated over his pious accomplishment at Cape 
Gaspe, Cartier sailed proudly up the gulf, coasting along 
the shore of the island of Anticosti. But he failed to 
realise that he was within the sweep of the flood of the 
St. Lawrence, and thus missed the knowledge of a 
discovery of the great waterway bringing its offerings 
from its vast system of inland seas nearly two thousand 
miles distant. He was nine weeks in making this 
exploration, and, after repassing the lonely strait which 
had led him into the gulf, bore away for his homeland. 
If he carried with him little to encourage his King in 
another enterprise of the kind, he had accomplished, in 
fact, from having paved the way for future voyages, 
more than he could have foretold. 

The following spring Cartier started on his second 
voyage, his one aim and instruction this time being to 



In the Wake of Cartier 21 

carry Christianity to the heathen. One cannot help 
speculating, without intending sarcasm, as to whether 
there was not quite as much necessity for this work upon 
his ships, inasmuch as his crew was made up largely of 
criminals pressed into his service. Letting that, which 
is really none of our concern, alone, the weather on this 
voyage was adverse, so his little fleet of three caravels 
was scattered before he could bring them safely to the 
shores of the new country. It was late in July when he 
again entered the Strait of Belle Isle, on the Labrador 
coast, and sought safety in a small harbour he christened 
the " Bay of St. Lawrence " (Saint Laurens), the first 
appearance of this name which was later to be applied to 
both gulf and river. 

Soon the doughty Breton resumed his onward course, 
hugging the southern shore, along a river eighty miles 
in width. With what awe he watched the surrounding 
scene may be imagined, believing, as he did, he had at 
last found the passage to Cathay, the Mecca of the 
dreams of every voyager of that day. As his brave 
little craft plunged boldly along the coast frowning 
cliffs, bleak, barren, forbidding, frowned down upon 
him, and then he came abreast of the stern bulwarks of 
the Gaspe range, whose watchmen, the Shicksaws, 
tower like huge giants vainly climbing to reach the sky 
that bended low over their crests as if eager to meet 
them half-way. Over all hung the silence of forest and 
mountain, the restless sleep of river and sea. 

Farther away, upon the other hand, rose rocky walls 



22 The St. Lawrence River 

that formed mighty barriers to the mysterious wilder- 
ness beyond. Broken here and there with huge rents, 
gorges, and chasms, these defiles only served to reveal 
the mightier breastworks beyond thrown up by na- 
ture in her defence against the incursions of explorers. 
What a grand sight! Grey rocks, piled tier upon tier; 
sombre forests, looming terrace above terrace ; the 
vague, mist-like outline of mountains beyond. Over all 
hung the shifting tints of light and shade. Now the 
bright-hued beams of breaking day illuminated pine 
and spruce, brilliant maple, dazzling poplar, and the deep 
green of the cedar. At noontide this crimson and pink 
became intensified with the gorgeous brightness of mid- 
day. Anon, the atmosphere of evening glorified all 
with many tints, splashing the landscape with an added 
transparency of gold and silver upon green and brown, 
russet and purple, the lighter shades swiftly taking on 
the deeper hues as the sun sank behind the distant 
ranges, each halo forming a distinct band of shadows. 
These, too, proved of short life and shifting shades, for 
the rising moon touched them with her magic wand, 
sending them deeper and deeper into the gorges and 
ravines from whence they had sprung, as she ascended 
the stairway of the sky. 

As he progressed, bold headlands thrust, ever and 
anon, their solemn fronts far out into the water, and 
then these gave way to long, level reaches, marking the 
outer boundaries of some bay or deep swamp, the re- 
sort of innumerable birds, the most prominent of which 



In the Wake of Cartier 23 

were great flocks of crows, whose flight darkened the 
sun. Then the mountain breeze, tempered with the 
aroma of a perennial forest, kissed away the damp of 
the salt-sea spray from his brow, and exchanging the 
plaintive swish of the moaning tide for the soughing of 
the west winds through the groves of fir and pine, he 
passed boldly through the open gate to Canada, leading 
the way into the primeval fastness for the bold voya- 
geurs who were to follow in his wake. 

"What river is this?" asked Cartier, of his dusky 
pilots, — the two natives whom he had taken captive the 
year before, — as he stood with uncovered head, begin- 
ning to realise that his dream of a passage to India 
was fading away. The red man, with solemn dignity 
becoming his reply, answered : 

" A river without end." 

Now Cartier moved slowly and cautiously along the 
great river, which he felt certain must come from the 
interior of the continent. His dark-hued companions 
told him many wonder stories of the strange region to 
the north, over which roamed the tribe of Montagnais, 
or " mountaineers," so frequently written of by the 
Jesuit missionaries in after years. These Indians had 
been long at war with the Innuits. They evidently 
had come at some remote period from the north and 
west. To the south-west of the Ungava district dwelt 
the Little Whale River Indians, more mild in their con- 
duct than the others. They were boatmen of extra- 
ordinary skill. In their birch-bark canoes, which had 



24 The St. Lawrence River 

a higher curve at prow and stern than others gave to 
theirs, so as to cut better the foaming current, they 
outrode winds and waves that would appall the hearts 
of braver, but less skilled, canoe-men. Then there 
were the Koksoak Indians, whose leading trait was 
their ability to carry on a long-distance conversation. 
Through an inflection of speech, peculiar to them, 
they could raise their voice to such a pitch that they 
could make themselves understood by their companions 
who might be more than a mile away, while each alter- 
nate word would sink to a whisper. These Indians 
were also, and are still, noted for their exactness in 
imitating the cries of wild geese. In doing this some 
of the men will make one note, and others follow with 
the variations. It is claimed by ethnologists that all of 
these families of Amerinds belong to the Cree stock, 
their difference in customs and language being due to 
their environments. 

The scene along the south shore was less suggestive 
of the sublime and fiercer elements which reigned over 
the northern country, the realm of the foaming torrent 
and the warring wilderness. Here were to be seen at 
times wide breadths of lowland forests, with a frame- 
work of mountains in the distance. To-day there is an 
almost continuous chain of fisher hamlets, farm-houses, 
villages, diamonded by church spires, marked by wind- 
mills, groves of trees, and green meadows, whose 
bosoms are knotted with silvery streams winding slug- 
gishly down to the sea. 



Chapter III 
The Lower St. Lawrence 

The Oldest Town in America — Legend of Perce Rock — A Glimpse of the Sague- 
nay — Cartier Reaches Stadacone, the Original Quebec. 

THIS lower section of the Great River of Canada 
is the birthland of the gods and heroes of 
the picturesque Amerinds, whose myths and 
legends have not yet fled before the searchlight of civi- 
lisation, so there is not a spot without its warrior 
dream and some allusion to that day when the land was 
peopled by a race with an unwritten history. Here, 
long before the coming of Cartier and his successors, 
the most poetical and chivalrous of the explorers of 
America, was waged many a sanguinary battle for the 
lordship of these fruitful hunting-grounds and fisheries 
between the Micmacs, Malecites, Abnakis, Montagnais, 
Souriquois, and others. Nor did these tragedies cease 
with the coming of the white conquerors, themselves 
made up of many families. From where lies grim 
Anticosti, swathed long nights in its cloaks of mist, dis- 
closing with the sunlight desolate shores strewn with the 
wreckage of good vessels driven upon its rocks under 
the stress of the furious gales prevalent off this coast, 



26 The St. Lawrence River 

there is not an island, point of mainland, or indentation 
of water where some wonder story does not cling, some 
wraith of old-time adventure does not hover. We see 
signs of these imprinted upon the rugged features of the 
inhabitants, — singular compounds, it would seem, them- 
selves of the ancient voyageur and the latter-day- 
farmer- and fisher-folk. 

The oldest French name on the continent is 
" Breton," supplied by a Portuguese cartographer in 
1520, in memory of the hardy fishermen from Brittany, 
who had been in the habit of visiting, for an unknown 
period, the place on their fishing trips. Gaspe can 
claim a greater honour, as it has reason to be considered 
the most ancient town founded by Europeans in 
America, if it is true the Vikings had a fishing station 
here in the tenth century, five hundred years before 
Columbus went forth to rediscover the New World. 
Velasco, the Spanish navigator, is supposed to have 
visited the bay in 1506. Cartier, as I have already 
shown, was there in 1534, taking possession of the sur- 
rounding country in the name of the King of France, 
and leaving as a monument of his easy conquest a cross 
thirty feet in height, decked with the fleur-de-lis of his 
native land. If the Latin race proved poor colonisers, 
so did the Gallic adventurers, and it was left for the 
Anglo-Saxons to accomplish what the others had failed 
to do. Fortunately the earlier feelings of racial dislike 
have gradually softened, and out of the union has come 
a strong and virile people, working harmoniously to- 



The Lower St. Lawrence 27 

gether for their common good toward building up 
a nation destined to become a power in the world. 

Gaspe Bay is about twenty miles in length, and 
ends in a basin large enough to shelter a fleet of 
a thousand vessels, so it is worthy of the notice it 
attracted in the days of exploration, when the first 
object desired was the safety of the ships. 

It is easy to imagine the feelings of these doughty voy- 
agers as they gazed for the first time upon that grey obe- 
lisk five hundred feet in length and nearly three hundred 
feet in height, known as Perce Rock. Rising from the 
water in the distance like a pillar of solid stone, when 
they drew nearer a lofty arch opened, as if the massive 
walls had been swung ajar by the Omnipotent Hand. 
Some rocks lose their startling shapes upon closer ap- 
proach, and the air of mystery melts into the clear 
sunshine, robbing each point and fissure of unlikely pic- 
tures. But this one manages to increase the vividness 
of its setting, until it requires no grievous strain of the 
imagination to feel that you are gazing upon the outer 
wall of some old granite castle long since depleted of 
its tower and temple. This illusion is enhanced by the 
dark broadsides of a mountain in the background, whose 
top is as square as if it had been chopped off by a single 
stroke from the mighty axe of Glooscap or some other 
weird deity of the aborigines of this vicinity. As usual 
where nature reigns supreme, rock and water and moun- 
tain blend together so as to form one grand and perfect 
whole. Throw over this the broad bars of the setting 



28 The St. Lawrence River 

sun, and an atmosphere that only the clear air of this 
hyperborean temperature can produce, and you have ob- 
tained a most remarkable effect of a remarkable scene. 

Beyond this the same sunset is flooding a long, huge 
pile of brownish ledge of rock, cutting in twain a tide 
that rolls majestically over fifty fathoms of water. This 
last is Bonaventura Island, which has been beating back 
for unnumbered ages the white-maned cavalry of the 
sea, until its high walls bear the marks of the inroads of 
these invincible legions, which in the end must become 
its conquerors though that day is still far removed. 

Romance delights to cluster around such spots, and 
Perce Rock is not devoid of interest in this direction. 
The sweetest, saddest, of these stones still told by 
the fishermen of this locality is the account of the fair 
Breton maid who lost her life here, and whose white 
wraith is still to be seen hovering over the fateful place 
at certain times when the sun's light dips just so far and 
no farther over the rim of the distant mountain. She 
is seen but a moment, and sharp and quick indeed must 
be the eye of him who catches a glimpse of her. Those 
who have been so fortunate declare that her form is 
clearly outlined, and that she is very beautiful. 

It has been nearly two hundred years since her 
earthly figure assumed the spiritual. Her lover — for, 
like most of the delightful folklore of this region, hers 
is a love-story — was among the early voyagers who 
came to seek his fortune in the wilds of the American 
wilderness in the valley of the storied St. Lawrence. 



The Lower St. Lawrence 29 

She was his promised bride, and fain would have ac- 
companied him upon his hazardous journey, but he 
deemed it best for her to remain behind until he should 
send for her. Upon reaching Quebec he soon arranged 
for her coming, and sent her word to come by the next 
vessel. She obeyed gladly, but the ship upon which 
she sailed was captured by Spanish corsairs, and she of 
all the crew was spared, as it proved, for a worse fate. 
Her beauty had so captivated the pirate captain that 
he soon announced his purpose of making her his wife. 
She refused to comply with his demands, and, finding his 
threats could not move her, he swore that she should 
never reach Quebec. Furthermore, he would sail past 
the town upon the rock, and in sight of its walls and the 
home of her lover she should be put to death. This 
fate so preyed upon her mind that as the vessel entered 
the waters of the Great River she escaped her watchers 
and sprang overboard. The efforts put forth to effect 
her rescue were in vain, but later, as the ship was sail- 
ing past this rock, the lookout discovered what appeared 
to him as a woman just arisen from the water, her 
clinging garments dripping with the salt spray. 

It was the hour of sunset, and attracted thither by 
some mysterious power, the vessel slowly approached 
the fiofure luring- them on. In the midst of this advance 
it was discovered that the ship was slowly sinking, 
though she had appeared to spring no leak ! In vain 
her frantic commander shouted his orders to wear away 
from the haunted spot. In vain did his frenzied crew 



30 The St. Lawrence River 

endeavour to obey. It was soon found that the hulk of 
the ship and themselves were turning into stone ! The 
masts became uplifted pillars of iron, and the sails were 
transformed into sheets of slate ! While she drifted 
with invincible power toward the fateful rock she con- 
tinued to sink deeper and deeper into the tide. Be- 
fore the seamen and their officers could leap overboard 
they were changed to bodies of stone. Then, as the 
doomed vessel collided with the rock, in some mysteri- 
ous manner she became a part of it ! Yonder point of 
ledge is said to have been her bowsprit, but time and 
tide have dimmed her outlines somewhat, though there 
was a day when she could be plainly discerned. If the 
ship has lost its identity in the rock the wraith of the 
unfortunate maiden still lingers over the place. It is 
believed now she, too, will depart when the last vestige 
of the ship shall have vanished. The fisherman who 
tells you this legend of Perce Rock may vary its details 
somewhat, for no two tell it alike, but in one respect all 
will agree. No one will hazard his luck by dropping a 
line for fish at the sacred hour when its white visitant 
is expected to appear. 

Even this has come since that distant day when 
Cartier, still wondering, still anxious, kept on his lonely 
way, the swish of a leaping fish clearing at a bound yards 
of water and air, the calling of a pair of gulls in the lan- 
guage known only to them, the deeper call and answer 
of a couple of loons far out over the water, the plashing 
of some white whales disporting in the tide, plunging 



The Lower St. Lawrence 31 

about like porpoises, while giving utterance to a deep, 
lowing sound like a cow calling to her calf, the sounds 
breaking upon the solemnity of his lonely advance. As 
he sailed on, the distant walls of the forest, which Ruskin 
has compared to a mighty cathedral, with painted win- 
dows and hung with illuminated manuscripts, gradually 
drew nearer, the silence unbroken by the clink of a sur- 
veyor's chain, and where the industrious beaver, which 
was unconsciously to become such a potent factor in 
opening up this wilderness, now plied its craft undis- 
turbed, save when that being, half-human, half-satyr, 
silently set his traps for it and clothed his dusky form 
in its skins. 

In turn the bronzed and bearded voyager passed 
the silent places where stand to-day the quiet hamlets 
of Ste. Anne de Monts, named for another bold navi- 
gator as well as in memory of a saint, past Cape Chat, 
Metis, the favourite resort of romantic lovers, Rimouski, 
noted for its cathedrals, picturesque Bic, and many other 
places of modern interest, to stay his progress at last 
where a tremendous break appeared in the mountain 
range on the north, making a gigantic gateway opening 
into the mysterious region beyond, a fitting passage to 
the underworld. 

He had been looking for this gloomy passway, for 
the Indians of Gaspe had awakened his curiosity with 
wild stories of marvellous mines and stores of gems 
lying behind the rock-wall, to be reached only by a river 
that flowed through a cavern. His Indians with him 



32 The St. Lawrence River 

told him this was that river, — the Saguenay, — and on the 
ist of September, 1535, he anchored his little fleet 
in St. Catherine's Bay around Point Noire. His pilots 
told him the country far to the north was inhabited by 
a race with white skins, and who clothed themselves in 
wool. Great wealth lay hidden in the earth in that 
region. Seeing little evidence of it here, and having 
little relish to brave the frown of the hills about him 
by entering the silence of the sublime gateway, Cartier 
speedily headed up the river, until at last he came in 
sight of that rocky escarpment which was the site of the 
first settlement of natives he had seen since entering 
the river. This he was told was the "great town of 
Stadacone," where dwelt the mighty chief Donnacona 
and his followers. He saw only a cluster of bark camps 
covering the rocky outpost of barbarism, clothed in the 
majesty of supreme silence and breathing the stern 
poetry of the wilderness. 

Passing the Isle of Orleans, which so abounded 
with grapes that he named it the Isle of Bacchus, the 
ships, which already had awakened the keenest interest 
of the dusky watchers on the lookout, glided to anchor- 
age. In an incredibly short time the water swarmed 
with the birch-bark boats of these amazed Indians, who 
climbed upon the decks of the new-comers with undis- 
guised curiosity, even the chief forgetting the dignity 
of his kingly position and joining his rabble of followers 
in their childish wonder at the strangers, who they 
were inclined to believe were superior beings. A few 




W:«+? ^ 



RIVIERE DU LOUP FALLS. 



The Lower St. Lawrence 33 

trinkets, some wine and cake, were sufficient to secure 
their friendship, and without loss of time Cartier, with 
a few chosen companions, approached the rocky pro- 
montory in a boat, soon reaching that harbour which has 
since been the port of so many inland ships. Guided 
by the dusky natives he made the summit by a circuit- 
ous path, when for the first time upon record a Euro- 
pean gazed upon that wonderful panorama of country 
unfolded to this day to him who stands upon the em- 
battled heights. He saw, as one sees to-day, far below 
him the harbour, sparkling like a silver buckler in the clear 
northern light ; beyond, the bold front of Cap Tour- 
mente ; on the north and east he looked upon a crescent 
of primeval forest where we look calmly down upon the 
farms of peaceful people, framed in now, as then, by the 
mountains whose blue vies with the azure of the horizon ; 
on the south-east, with the Isle of Orleans forever 
breasting the current of the mighty river a little to the 
left, he gazed upon the unpeopled highlands of Point 
Levi ; from above, and of greater interest to him than all 
else, moved the slow-coming stream, bringing its tribute 
from the great storehouse of the west. A nobler or more 
picturesque expanse of country was never disclosed to 
the gaze of an explorer. But even he could not fore- 
see that this spot was to become the site of America's 
greatest fortress, where the proudest warriors of the 
Old World were to be marshalled in after years to 
decide the fate of the empire of which he was to lay the 
corner-stone of discovery. 



Chapter IV 
The Primitive Capital of Canada 

Cartier Keeps up the River to Hochelaga — Ascends Mount Royal — Description of 
the Stronghold of the Amerinds — Returns to France — Coming of Roberval — 
His Failure — Romance of the Isle of Demons. 

CARTIER had already been informed that a 
town larger and of more importance than 
Stadacone was situated farther up the river, 
and was known as Hochelaga. Received here with 
friendliness, and having a lingering hope in his bosom 
that he was still on the broad road to Cathay, the 
bold pathfinder soon pushed bravely ahead, promis- 
ing the dusky chieftain of the town upon the rock that 
he should return. It is possible this promise afforded 
the aged king little cause for rejoicing, as it is said that 
he displayed evident feelings of relief when he saw the 
strangers heading away in the wake of the westering 
sun. Be that as it may, their minds were too deeply en- 
grossed with the wonders of the new land to take into 
consideration the effect their coming or going might 
have upon a small confederation of untutored men. 

Upon the morning. of October 2nd he was warned 
of his approach to the primitive capital of the wilder- 
ness by the appearance of a great crowd of half-naked 

34 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 35 

natives, who rapidly gathered along the banks upon 
sighting them, and began to display wild antics which 
he easily imagined to mean both surprise and welcome. 
In the background was a high eminence of land, and 
at its foot they saw fields of maize, melons, and beans, 
showing that the people were to a certain extent agri- 
culturists. Some of the early writers describe them, as 
well as those at Stadacone, as belonging to the Iro- 
quois. Others say they were Hurons. It does not 
seem to matter which were right, as another race occu- 
pied both towns when, years later, Cartier's successor 
visited them. 

Cartier described his reception as most cordial by the 
natives, who seemed to look upon him and his followers 
as superior beings. The best they had was placed 
before the visitors, while the sick and crippled were 
brought to be healed. The chief went so far as to 
place upon the brow of Cartier his crown of wild vines, 
thus acknowledging the latter as his sovereign. 

The primitive town stood at the base of a hill, 
encircled by corn-fields, with the river and forest be- 
yond. The village was surrounded by high palisades, 
after the rude form of protection common among the 
Amerinds. The following day, with some of his of- 
ficers, and a body-guard of twenty men, Cartier visited 
the fortress. As they were escorted through a gate 
into the inclosure they found on the inside a gal- 
lery built to afford a vantage-ground from which the 
defenders could hurl missiles over the fence upon an 



36 The St. Lawrence River 

attacking enemy. A pile of stones was placed to be in 
readiness for immediate use. In describing this strong- 
hold of these wildwood warriors, Parkman, in his pictur- 
esque language, says : 

An Indian path led them through the forest which covered the 
site of Montreal. The morning air was chill and sharp, the leaves 
were changing hue, and beneath the oaks the ground was thickly- 
strewn with acorns. They soon met an Indian chief with a party of 
tribesmen, or, as the old narrative has it, "one of the principal lords 
of the said city," attended with a numerous retinue. Greeting them 
after the concise courtesy of the forest, he led them to a fire 
kindled by the side of the path, for their comfort and refreshment* 
seated them on the earth, and made them a long harangue, receiving 
in requital of his eloquence two hatchets, two knives, and a crucifix, 
the last of which he was invited to kiss. This done, they resumed 
their march, and presently issued forth upon open fields, covered 
far and near with the ripened maize, its leaves rustling, its yellow 
grains gleaming between the parting husks. Before them, wrapped 
in forests painted by the early frosts, rose the ridgy back of the 
Mountain of Montreal, and below, encompassed with its corn-fields, 
lay the Indian town. 

Cartier spoke in glowing terms of the height of land 
behind this lodgment, and the thought of the view from 
its summit must have been in his mind during his visit 
to the palisaded town, as he improved an early oppor- 
tunity to make its ascent, led by a few of the red men, 
and followed by a mob. He had named it at first sight 
" Mont Royale," a designation since easily transposed 
into Montreal, the name of the city that stands upon the 
site of ancient Hochelaga, the primitive metropolis of 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 37 

the Canadian wilds. From its crest he looked out over 
the great green roof of the boundless west, which was 
for centuries the battle-ground of rival races. No voice 
of prophecy came up to him from the savage silence 
saying that the canopied desert at his feet was destined 
to produce in its time the towers, domes, and spires, 
congregated roofs, and bright walls of the city of a 
civilised people. While he gazed up and down the 
broad river rolling toward the sea, and its tributary, the 
tumultous Ottawa, — if smaller, scarcely less impressive, 
— he must have seen but dimly the realisation of any 
hope to reach that Cathay, for ever in the minds of the 
early voyagers. 

It was now too late in the season for him to dally 
longer here, as much as he may have wanted to do so, 
and on the nth of October he was back again at his 
station on the St. Charles River, just below Stadacone, 
and called by him Havre de Sainte Croix, in many 
respects greatly pleased with his trip. He now pre- 
pared to spend the coming winter here. 

The experiences which followed, during what he 
termed " the white winter," were severe enough to have 
discouraged a less energetic leader. Soon after the cold 
weather had set in, which was a revelation in itself to 
these men of France, a disease resembling the scurvy 
broke out among the natives. This dread malady soon 
spread among the French, until there was scarcely a 
man able to keep about. Before the warm weather 
brought relief twenty-five had perished. Probably the 



38 The St Lawrence River 

lives of the survivors were saved by drinking a bever- 
age prepared by the Indians which they called ameda. 
This was supposed to have been brewed from pine 
boughs and bark. Beyond question it had a soothing 
and beneficial effect. 

With the coming of spring the handful of emaciated, 
disheartened French found courage in the thought of 
returning to France, and as soon as the river began to 
clear of ice they prepared to make the homeward trip. 
One of their vessels was so badly disabled in coming 
that it was looked upon as quite unseaworthy. But 
this made little difference, as there were really barely 
men enough left to man the other two. So they de- 
cided to give the condemned ship to the natives. 

Feeling it his duty to leave here some monument of 
his visit, on the 3rd of May Cartier planted a new 
cross upon the shore of the river and placed upon it a 
notice of his claim to the country in the name of his 
king, couching his notice in the following words : 
"Francis Primus, Dei Gratia Francorum Rex 
Regnat." 

Having accomplished this purpose he next per- 
formed an act less humane. This was nothing less 
than the seizure of the poor king of the little band who 
had treated him in such a friendly manner through the 
most trying winter of his life, and four of his subjects, 
having enticed them on board of his ship under the 
pretence of friendship. Perhaps he excused this deed 
to his conscience upon the ground that it would be 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 39 

necessary to have some proof of the kind to offer his 
sovereign at home. 

Though indignant at this outrage the Indians offered 
first to ransom their chieftain. This being firmly de- 
clined, they resorted to force, when Cartier outwitted 
them by compelling Donnacona to stand up in sight of 
them, and declare that he was not displeased with the 
treatment given him. Another year they might look for 
him back again, with wonderful stones to tell and laden 
with many beautiful presents. These artful words, with 
a few simple presents flung to them, together with the 
proffer of the abandoned vessel, so far appeased the red 
men that they allowed the abductors to depart without 
further molestation. 

This act closed the more noteworthy incidents of 
Cartier's second voyage. Certainly this time he had 
not made any discovery that was likely to benefit his 
King. While there had been held up before the gaze 
of Cartier at all times the alluring picture of a land 
abounding in gold and precious gems, covered with 
a forest filled with wonderful creatures, not the least 
among them being a race of white men who walked on 
one leg and lived without food, he had really found 
a country clothed most of the time under the white 
mantle of winter, peopled by a race of savages ; and, if 
he had made strange discoveries, he had reaped a whirl- 
wind of disease and disappointment. So his mind was 
not wholly free from trouble, any more than the abused 
king and his companions who had accompanied him as 



4-o The St. Lawrence River 

captives, the one party looking back with bitter regret 
at the cabin walls they were never to look upon again, 
and the other with mingled joy and sadness upon the 
lonesome emblem of Christianity entwined with the 
fleur-de-lis of their native land, all they had left to 
speak of their year of hardships. 

Cartier designated the stream which he had dis- 
covered " the river of Hochelaga," or " the great river 
of Canada." The former term was no doubt an Indian 
word, applied by them to a collection of cabins or wig- 
wams ; as we should use it, a town or village. In the 
journal of this voyage he says explicitly, " Ills appellent 
une ville Canada!' This word belonged to the Iroquois 
tongue, with this meaning, and it was the same in the 
speech of the Mohawks, which was a dialect of the 
other. Cartier limited the application of the name 
" Canada " to the country about Stadacone, while he 
designated that below as " the country of the Saguenay," 
and that above as " Hochelaga." 1 

In his description of the river he had discovered the 
voyager from St. Malo declared it was "the greatest 
river that is ever to have been seen." So his narrative 



1 The cartographer Ortelius published in 1572-73 a map of America, upon which 
he applied the name of " Saguenai " to the country about the river which still bears 
that name ; " Canada," to the country above and reaching to the Ottawa ; " Mos- 
cosa," to the district south of the mouth of the St. Lawrence and east of the 
Richelieu; " Chilaga " (Hochelaga), that near the mouth of the Ottawa ; "Avacal," 
to the south and west of the Moscosa country ; " Norumbega," to Maine and 
New Brunswick. He followed others in giving the name of New France to 
all of North and South America. 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 41 

flashes out with wild visions of the country, the whole 
inflated with superstition, which was a prevalent leaven- 
ing in the accounts from most of the explorers of that 
period. He brought, too, specimens of the gold and 
diamonds that were said to abound so plentifully in 
the land. But his former patron, Charbot, had fallen 
into trouble ; his King had all he could do to look 
after his wars and affairs nearer home. His "gold" 
proved spurious ; his " diamonds," valueless quartz. 
So Cartier's account did not find sufficient response to 
enable him to return on his third voyage, as he had 
hoped. In fact, so slowly did the importance of his 
discovery impress itself upon the King and his subjects 
that it was not until 1 544 that the first fruit of his work 
appeared as a map, while the narrative of his second 
voyage was not published till a year later. Neither 
seemed to have afforded the Government any satisfac- 
tion, and the publication of both was not only suspended, 
but all copies that had been put out which could be found 
were secured and destroyed. It is now supposed that 
only one copy of the map and his Bref Rdcit of 1 545 
have been preserved. The first of these is to be found 
in the Library of Paris, having been recovered in 
Germany, and the other still exists in the British 
Museum. (Parenthetically, it may not be out of place 
to say that the map is believed by some to be a copy 
of the original.) It was in reality sixteen years after 
Cartier had completed his voyages that the French 
people were made acquainted with his work, and 



42 The St. Lawrence River 

then through an Italian author named Giambattista 
Ramusio. 

In the meantime Cartier was not inactive. At Fon- 
tainebleau, January 15, 1540, Francis signed the papers 
which made one of his favourites, Jean Francois de la 
Roche, a Picard seigneur better known by the designa- 
tion of his vast estate as Roberval, Vice-Royal over 
the country discovered by Cartier. What was of more 
importance than this, he placed to his credit 45,000 
livres. Even under such encouragement this nobleman 
from Picardy dallied so with starting upon his enter- 
prise that the King felt obliged to return to Cartier, 
whom he had neglected, and he appointed him pilot and 
captain-general of the expedition. The latter showed 
that he was equal to the trust, and, though Roberval 
still delayed, on the 23rd of May, 1541, Cartier, in com- 
mand of three vessels, set sail on his third voyage, 
leaving his superior to follow at his leisure. 

Again he met with a stormy passage of the Atlantic, 
and his ships were scattered, but fortunately reunited 
before making the "great river." For the second time 
he drew near the tower of rock overlooking the foam- 
flecked water at its base. There had been no apparent 
change in the scene. On the summit of this natural 
lookout, commanding a wide view of the surrounding 
country, under the oak and walnut trees, still stood the 
primitive dwellings of the people who were the keepers 
of the wilderness. It was evident they had been look- 
ing for him a long time, and had discovered the sails of 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 43 

his caravels from afar, as they flocked upon the shore 
and swam out to meet him as he drew near. Their 
first demand was to meet their King, whom they had 
missed for over five years. 

Cartier told the truth when he informed them that 
he was dead, adding, as a saving grace, that he had died 
strong in the faith of the white man's religion. The 
French captain dared not risk too much upon the truth, 
so he denied that the others had also fallen victims to 
disease, but declared that they lived, had married white 
women, and were so well contented with their new 
life that they had refused to come back. They had, 
however, sent kindly greetings to their old companions. 
These answers served their purpose, though the astute 
commander could see that he had lost largely the confi- 
dence of the red men. 

This time he selected a harbour twelve miles farther 
up the river, near Cap Rouge, where he established a 
fort he named Charlesbourg. Rumours reached him of 
an intended attack on the part of the Iroquois at Hoche- 
laga, and, while these did not prove true, he passed a 
rather uncomfortable season. As soon as their fortifica- 
tions were completed, leaving the command here with 
one of his trusty followers, Cartier started up the river 
with two boats to continue the exploration he had begun 
on his previous voyage. His discoveries did not add 
materially to his knowledge, but it was late in October 
when he returned, to find his followers gloomy and 
distrustful. Nothing had been seen of Roberval ; the 



44 The St. Lawrence River 

Indians had continued to hold aloof, if not displaying 
open hostilities ; and with the winter already setting in, 
it was natural a spirit of homesickness should prevail. 
Nothing more hopeful, however, could be done than to 
wait until spring, when their leader promised them to 
return to France. 

Fortunately they were better prepared for the cold 
weather than on the previous occasion, while the winter 
seems to have been less severe. At any rate they 
apparently suffered less, and another May-day found 
them sailing once more down the river on their home- 
ward voyage. Again the grand scenery of the lower 
St. Lawrence was passed, the rocky islets nearly hidden 
behind clouds of screaming sea-fowls left behind, and 
their staunch little ships stood boldly down the gulf. 
Upon approaching the harbour of St. John, whither 
they had been attracted by several fishing vessels lying 
at anchor, Cartier was taken aback to discover the fleet 
of Roberval, who had left France upon the 16th of 
April, with three ships and two hundred colonists. 

Cartier was quickly ordered to retrace his course, the 
Viceroy assuring him that, with the large number of 
colonists aboard his ships, little trouble would be exper- 
ienced in establishing a settlement. But the homeward- 
bound Breton, for reasons of his own, had no mind to 
return to Stadacone. Wisely keeping his peace, under 
cover of the following night he stole away toward the open 
sea, leaving his superior to continue his expedition as 
he chose. 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 45 

Upon finding that he had been deserted, Roberval 
resumed his course steering toward the Strait of Belle 
Isle, passing on the way those ill-fated piles of rocks 
denominated " the Isle of Demons," believed by the abo- 
rigines to have been from time immemorial the abode 
of a giant, with more of the monster than of the 
human, and his satellites, who lived upon children and 
young women. Over the ill-fated place hovered, in the 
forms of birds and beasts, the spirits of the slain, forever 
haunting the dead slayers. It seemed destined that the 
French explorer was to add another wonder tale to the 
gruesome list already accumulated. This time it was a 
love romance, which doubtless had some groundwork of 
reality, as it is told with great gravity by the historian 
of this expedition, M. Thevet. Shorn of its supersti- 
tious adornments the story runs somewhat as follows : 

Among the Viceroy's passengers was his niece, an 
extremely comely maiden by the name of Marguerite, 
who had a lover upon the vessel. When this fact was 
made known to Roberval he was so enraged that he 
declared that she must either forswear her lover or 
suffer banishment from the ship. This she refused to 
do, and soon after, coming abreast of the haunted isle, 
he caused her to be put into a boat. Giving her four 
arquebuses with which to defend herself from demons, 
and a scanty allowance of food, she was set adrift, 
accompanied by her old nurse who would not be torn 
from her. While this was being done her lover, prov- 
ing himself as faithful as she, managed to escape the 



46 The St. Lawrence River 

watchful eyes of the commander, and followed her to 
the island. Exulting over what he had done, a deed 
that the old chroniclers say doomed him to everlasting 
disappointment, Roberval sailed on his way up the St. 
Lawrence. 

Letting alone the imaginary perils from the haunting 
demons ever trying to assail them, the fortunes of the 
marooned lovers, and their faithful old friend were 
extremely hard to bear. With their arquebuses they 
managed to kill enough of the birds and beasts to live 
upon during the long months that followed. Then 
came the sufferings of the long, intense cold of the winter. 
Then another spring, and with it came another life to 
care for, and the Crusoes grew doubly anxious. Wilder 
and fiercer than before did the demons wage their 
ceaseless warfare to get possession of the babe, which 
they seemed to look upon as their especial prey. But 
the mother's heart was strong, and the Virgin, to whom 
she prayed almost constantly, had pity upon her. The 
child was spared for a time to cheer their loneliness, 
but the father lost courage, and, sickening, died that 
summer. As well as they could the two women laid 
his worn-out form to rest. Soon after the little one, 
too innocent for such a life, pined away, and its little 
body was laid beside that of its father. The elder 
woman lived through another winter, and then she laid 
down her burden, when poor Marguerite was left alone 
with her sorrow. Several months later she descried the 
sail of a fishing vessel, and, by building a fire, finally 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 47 

succeeded in attracting the attention of the fishermen, 
who drew near the island with great reluctance, until 
they discovered the figure of a woman in strange attire, 
beckoning frantically to them. So Marguerite event- 
ually found her way back to France, where she told 
her strange story, and the island became known among 
the French voyagers as " 1' He de la Demoiselle." 

Whether or no the curse of the demons followed 
Roberval for his cruel treatment of his niece, whose only 
sin seemed to have been artlessness in her love, he and 
his followers had a sorry time of it in the end. Cap 
Rouge, Cartier's last stopping-place was reached, and 
here the new-comers built their rude fort, patterned 
roughly after some Old -World castle, the while the 
dusky inhabitants of the country looked on with 
askance. Well they might, had they been invested 
with higher intellect, for never was there a stranger 
compound of human beings than those gathered there 
under one roof : officers and soldiers, artisans and 
sailors, noblemen and felons, women and children, for 
the first time undertaking their important part in the 
colonisation of the New World. 

If they had builded well in their minds they soon 
found experience to be a hard taskmaster. If they had 
shown good judgment in preparations of defence, they 
had overlooked a matter of even more importance. 
This was in the matter of provisions. Two vessels were 
sent back to France with the proud tidings of their 
successful beginning in colonisation, but the sails of 



48 The St Lawrence River 

the outgoing caravels had barely faded from the blue 
expanse of the distant St. Lawrence before they dis- 
covered that the supply of food was wofully short. So 
winter and famine came hand in hand, the horrors of 
which outweighed the "white winter" of Cartier, in- 
asmuch as a goodly portion of this band of sufferers 
were fair women and helpless little ones. Again the 
Indians came tardily to the rescue, selling them fish, 
and digging roots for them, which they boiled in whale 
oil. Disease was inevitable, doubling the horror, and 
had it not been for the iron hand of Roberval it is not 
impossible but the immigrants would have torn each 
other like a pack of wolves. So sorely were they 
pressed that the old narrative says the hearts of the 
Indians were stirred to pity. The balance of the 
account, if ever written, is lost. It could not be pleasant 
reading. 

Cartier had returned to France, and the following 
spring, 1544, the King, getting anxious over the pro- 
tracted absence of his favourite, sent Cartier to find him. 
The latter was successful in so far that he succeeded 
in bringing back to France a handful of wretched 
survivors of an expedition which had set forth with 
such enthusiasm and under such auspicious circum- 
stances. Of the fate of Roberval there are conflicting 
accounts. That he was among those rescued by Cartier 
is certain. One writer says that he had not got his sur- 
feit of experience in the new country, and that in 1549, 
after the death of Francis the First, accompanied by his 



The Primitive Capital of Canada 49 

brother Achille, he made another voyage, landing this 
time at the mouth of the Saguenay. From here the 
natives declare that he and his men passed up this 
river, but never came back, and that they are wandering 
yet somewhere in the interior. Another says he was 
killed in a mob in Paris. The latter is doubtless right, 
though he may have undertaken a second voyage to 
the St. Lawrence. 

Cartier had made his last voyage to America. His 
King, in recognition of his valuable services, gave him 
a manor on the coast shortly removed from St. Malo, 
where he seems to have passed his remaining years 
contented and peaceful. He died September 1, 1557. 
Among the sea-rovers and wonder-seekers of his age, 
when adventurous voyagers and daring explorers were 
braving the perils of the trackless oceans, no one ranks 
higher among the French. While he had not estab- 
lished a single colonist in the vast country claimed by 
his King, to him belongs, more than to any other man, 
the honour of leading the way in that colonisation which 
was to awaken Europe to the possibilities of the new 
continent. 



Chapter V 

The Coming of Champlain 

New Interest in France for America — Beginning of the Fur-Trade — Champlain, 
Pontgrave, and De Monts Appear on the Scene — The Lost Colonists — Settle- 
ment of St. Croix — First Blows for Quebec. 

IT is not necessary to dwell upon the successive ex- 
plorations that followed in the wake of Cartier, as 
none of them were of lasting importance until we 
come to the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
France had quite as much on hand as she could well 
look after during the latter half of the sixteenth century. 
Great Britain was now bending her energies toward 
establishing a foothold in America. This aroused 
Henry the Fourth of France to action, and the struggle 
between the rival Powers to gain the prize of the new 
country began in earnest. 

By this it must not be supposed that the interval 
had been wholly a waiting time. The Norman and 
Breton fishermen had continued to ply their vocation. 
The sight of their sails was a common occurrence to the 
Indians, and they often sought them with their spoils 
of the hunt, eager to barter these for such trinkets and 
gewgaws as the strangers might offer them. In this 
way began an industry which was to supplant in a large 

50 



The Coming of Champlain 51 

measure the craft of fishing. Here were possibilities 
the other calling did not hold forth, with far less of 
danger and uncertainty. Among the early fur-traders 
we find two nephews of Cartier. The seekers after 
bearskins and beaver pelts built rude huts for their 
comfort on the inhospitable shores of Anticosti, while 
others went up the river as far as Tadousac. But 
in the infancy of this enterprise bitter jealousies and 
intense rivalries entered, until these fortune - seekers 
not only abused the dusky hunters upon whom they 
depended for their wares, but they abused each other. 

The attention of men of speculative minds at home 
was attracted by the gaining of a monopoly of the 
business for twelve years by the two Cartiers, who 
seemed to possess something of the indomitable spirit of 
their uncle. Finally, at the beginning of the seventeenth 
century, an enterprising merchant of St. Malo, named 
Francois Grave, but commonly spoken of as Pontgrave, 
undertook to colonise and explore the country upon 
his own account, with an eye to the profits of the fur- 
trade. He engaged as an associate one M. Chauvin. 
Pontgrave made two successful voyages, ascending the 
St. Lawrence as far as Three Rivers. Then, in 1603, 
his partner died. They had already enlisted in their 
interest another in the person of Pierre du Gaust, 
Sieur de Monts, a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to 
Henry the Fourth. Through his influence a patent was 
obtained allowing the exclusive trade of the territory 
between the 40th and 54th degrees of latitude. 



52 The St. Lawrence River 

De Monts immediately began to fit out an expedition 
equal to the purpose in hand. Even while this was 
being done, another, with a commission from the King 
in his pocket, was sailing up the St. Lawrence with 
the destiny of New France, in spite of all others, in his 
keeping. His name is one we shall not forget, as there 
is scarcely an incident in the following years with which 
it is not connected. He was a native of a small seaport 
of Brouage on the Bay of Biscay, in his thirty-sixth year, 
a captain in the royal navy, a favourite of King Henry 
the Fourth, fresh from adventures in the West Indies. 
Fortunately his activity, daring, and enterprise were 
equalled by his firmness, honesty, and cheerfulness. No 
one understood better than he how to relieve the tedium 
of a long sea voyage of that day, and no one seemed to 
exercise better judgment in following up his explora- 
tions and in founding his settlements. Always faithful 
to the charge reposed in him by his patrons, he was 
just to those who crossed his path. In addition to the 
good qualities mentioned and many others, none of 
which were too abundant in those trying days, he wrote 
with a fluent and accurate pen, carefully recording 
all that he saw and did. He was a Catholic without 
being bigoted ; a soldier without being tyrannical ; the 
one man equal to the task of founding an empire in 
the dream of New France. Perhaps enough has been 
said to recognise the sturdy figure of Samuel de 
Champlain. 

With him was Pontgrave, who had yielded some- 




SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN. 
From the O'Niel copy of the Hamel Painting. 



The Coming of Champlain 53 

what his ambition to De Chatte or Du Chaste, who had 
obtained a patent, and, as Champlain says in his jour- 
nal, " though his head was crowned with grey hairs as 
with years, he resolved to proceed to New France in 
person, and dedicate the rest of his days to the service 
of God and his King." 

With the memory of the little colony of sixteen that 
Chauvin had left a year before to found a trading post 
at Tadousac in his mind, Pontgrave desired to stop at 
that place. Reaching here without mishap, they found 
the mountains capped with fog, and the mist hanging 
low over the broad expanse of water, but the only sign 
of life which greeted their gaze was the sportive por- 
poises at play in the silver-crested waves. A rocky 
point reaching out to the south-west formed the outer 
wall of the bay, in which their vessels could find 
anchorage. Down from among the deep shadows of 
the lofty crags, whence the dusky canoeists had been 
wont to come with their freights of furs, rolled un- 
peopled the dark Saguenay. From out of the solitude 
of the place no friendly voice greeted them ; no hearty 
welcome from men who had long waited for their 
coming. Of all of Chauvin's little band of colonists, not 
one was ever found. It was learned from the Indians 
afterwards that a portion had perished of famine or 
disease, and the others had gone into the interior of 
the country in comradeship with some of their race. 

As eager to escape this bleak shore as his com- 
panion, Pontgrave gladly consented to have Champlain 



54 The St. Lawrence River 

hold his course resolutely up the St. Lawrence, looking 
in vain for evidence of the native population that Car- 
tier had found sixty-eight years before. Solitude reigned 
primeval on every hand. The rock of Stadacone was 
desolate of its bark cabins, and when they had come 
under the dome of Mont Royale they looked in vain 
for the palisaded walls of ancient Hochelaga. A few 
Indians, of a different tribe from those who had occu- 
pied the town, were roving about the region, like 
shadows haunting some beautiful vale. These greeted 
them with friendly frankness, and in answer to the ques- 
tions of Champlain, traced for him upon pieces of bark 
rude outlines of the river above, with its rapids, lakes, 
cataracts, and islands. Then, finding himself baffled in 
his attempt to ascend the chain of rapids, the indomit- 
able explorer was fain to retrace his course down the 
river, delaying, rather than abandoning, his resolution 
to penetrate the mysteries of the country that lay 
beyond. 

Upon reaching Havre de Grace the weather-beaten 
voyagers learned with sorrow that their commander, 
De Chatte, was dead. Already Sieur de Monts had 
obtained his grant and been made Lieutenant-General 
of the vast territory stretching from the St. Lawrence 
to Cape May, known under the name of L Acadie. 
Though the apparent purpose was to colonise the new 
country and Christianise the aborigines, it was known 
to be a gigantic monopoly of the fur-trade. Hence the 
merchants of St. Malo, Rouen, Dieppe, and Rochelle, 



The Coming of Champlain 55 

all of which had been sending out their claimants for 
these privileges, raised such a remonstrance that De 
Monts was fain to include in his corporation De Chatte's 
company. 

De Monts set forth upon his mission in four ships 
upon the 7th of April, 1604, taking Champlain along as 
pilot, and leaving Pontgrave to follow with supplies. 
Champlain's narrative goes on to describe the incongru- 
ous medley of passengers that De Monts took with him to 
begin his colonisation. Along with noblemen, the most 
prominent of whom was the Baron de Poutrincourt, 
were the occupants of prisons ; with Catholic priests 
were Huguenot ministers, for De Monts was a Calvinist, 
though he pledged himself to convert the Indians ac- 
cording to the rites of the Church of Rome. Showing 
themselves to be more human than divine, these last 
fell to arguing on questions of faith, and from angry 
words often came to blows. 

Having had a taste of the more northern clime, De 
Monts did not steer directly for the St. Lawrence, but, 
shaping his course more southerly, entered the Bay of 
Fundy, on the northern shore of the peninsula of Nova 
Scotia, where he established a post that afterwards 
became the site of Port Royal. Poutrincourt was so 
pleased with the country that he asked for a grant, that 
he might settle here with his family. De Monts, with 
half a continent at his disposal, could well afford to part 
with this plot. With singular infelicity De Monts se- 
lected for the site of his capital an island at the mouth 



56 The St. Lawrence River 

of the River St. Croix, giving the name the stream now 
bears to his capital in the wilderness. Before winter 
had set in willing hands had constructed a row of houses 
around a square, where a solitary tree had been left 
standing. In this square were the storehouses, a maga- 
zine for the powder, workshops, and lodgings. De 
Monts had built a more pretentious dwelling for himself, 
and Champlain had followed his example. This was 
barely completed when November's chill blasts began to 
warn them of what was to come. Pontgrave had come 
and gone to trade with the natives at Tadousac. Now 
Poutrincourt started for France, promising to return in 
the spring. This left De Monts's little colony by itself. 
Says Parkman, in describing the situation : 

From the Spanish settlements northward to the pole, no domestic 
hearth, no lodgment of civilised men through all the borders of 
America, save one weak band of Frenchmen, clinging, as it were for 
life, to the fringe of the vast and savage continent. The grey and 
sullen autumn sank upon the waste, and the bleak wind howled 
down the St. Croix, and swept the forest bare. Then the whirling 
snow powdered the vast sweep of desolate woodland, and shrouded 
in white the gloomy green of the pine-clad mountains. Ice in 
sheets, or broken masses, swept by their island with the ebbing and 
flowing tide, often debarring all access to the mainland, and cutting 
off their supplies of wood and water. A belt of cedars, indeed, 
hedged the island; but De Monts had ordered them to be spared, 
that the north wind might spend something of its force with whist- 
ling through their shaggy boughs. Cider and wine froze in the 
casks, and were served out by the pound. As they crowded around 
their half-fed fires, shivering in the icy currents that pierced their 
rude tenements, many sank into a desperate apathy. 

That disease which proved such a scourge to the 
colonists, scurvy, before spring had claimed as its victims 



The Coming of Champlain 57 

thirty-five out of the seventy-nine. The survivors, mere 
wrecks of humanity, now thought only of the promised 
succour. In this respect they were not disappointed. 
On the 1 6th of June Pontgrave reached them with a 
reinforcement of forty men, and, what was yet more 
needed, a supply of provisions. 

De Monts now lost no time in pushing the explora- 
tion which he had begun so anxiously. Champlain, who 
had been the one among them to face without flinching 
their desperate situation during the long, bitter winter, 
had the previous fall explored the adjoining country to 
a considerable extent, making a detailed account of what 
he saw. His commander, hoping to find some more de- 
sirable place to remove to, taking Champlain along with 
him, besides several of his most distinguished compan- 
ions, a crew of twenty sailors, and an Indian pilot, in a 
bark of twenty tons, sailed down the coast of Maine and 
Massachusetts as far as Cape Cod, which they named 
Cap Blanc. Landing almost daily, the natives had 
treated them upon friendly terms, until one day a party 
of sailors, in seeking for a fresh supply of water, lost the 
kettle which they had taken with them. Three or four 
Indians had followed them, and these they accused of 
stealing it. Enraged at this, the natives fired upon the 
sailors, killing one. Immediately the crew upon the 
ship opened a volley upon the Indians. The arque- 
buse of Champlain burst, and he barely escaped being 
killed. The red men on the shore fled with nimble 
feet, and escaped uninjured. Others, who had been on 



5 8 The St. Lawrence River 

board of the vessel at the breaking out of the unfor- 
tunate occurrence, sprang overboard, and all escaped 
excepting one, who was afterwards released. 

Provisions now were running low, and De Monts 
prudently steered toward his infant settlement, ill-pleased 
with the prospect he had found. No place suited him 
as well as the region he had so freely granted to Pou- 
trincourt, and he resolved to remove thither. Arriving 
at St. Croix in August, he lost no time in carrying out 
the plan of removal, as he knew only too well he had 
scanty time in which to make the change before winter 
should set in. While he was doing this a messenger 
came from France to inform him that rivals were en- 
deavouring to steal the rights of his company. Leaving 
Pontofrave to take the command of the new settlement 
at the mouth of the river Annapolis, called by them 
the Esquille, and by others, afterwards, the Dauphin, he 
set sail for France. Champlain and others of his faith- 
ful followers offered to remain and brave the rigours of 
another winter. Fortunately these were not as severe 
as those of the preceding season, but the next news 
that reached them from France was the discouraging 
fact that De Monts had been deprived of his grant. 
Hence Champlain and his companions returned to their 
homeland. 

If baffled for a time, the indefatigable De Monts 
soon recovered a portion of what he had lost. Upon 
the advice of Pontgrave and Champlain he sought for 
and obtained a monopoly of the fur-trade for one year. 




01 I 

w o 



The Coming of Champlain 59 

The plan was, for the first, to revive the old trading 
station at Tadousac, and, for the latter, to establish a 
new station farther inland. 

Two small vessels sufficed for this expedition, one 
commanded by Pontgrave, and which stopped at Tadou- 
sac, as arranged ; the other by Champlain, which can 
claim the distinction of carrying to New France the 
pioneer colony. He sailed from Honfleur on the 13th 
day of April, 1608. This was a year before Hudson 
sailed from Amsterdam upon the voyage during which 
he was to discover the river that bears his name, and 
only a year after the founding of Jamestown by the 
English, and which at this very time was undergoing 
such experiences as only another of Champlain's cour- 
age and indomitable will, Captain John Smith, could 
have saved from utter failure. 

While Champlain was not following a course entirely 
new to him, he having passed that way five years before, 
with his deep-seated love for nature he scanned closely 
each point of interest as he sailed up the great river. 
Leaving his companion at the mouth of the Saguenay, 
he passed the lofty Cap aux Corbeaux, which name comes 
from the dismal croakings of the innumerable ravens as 
they hover over the jagged cliffs and rock-shelves be- 
yond the reach of the most nimble climber ; under the 
pilotage of the Laurentian range he followed the great 
river up past Cartier's Isle of Bacchus, past the shim- 
mering falls of Montmorency, to which he had given that 
name on his previous voyage, steadily advancing until 



60 The St. Lawrence River 

he had entered that beautiful harbour which has since 
become the anchorage of so many fleets of vessels and 
craft of varied descriptions. His keen judgment had 
already told him that the site pre-eminently fitted for 
his purpose was the deserted Indian town upon the 
rock. The indentation of the river where his ship had 
come to anchor was protected upon the south by that 
rugged promotory since named the Heights of Levi, 
and, on the other hand, by the bold escarpment of Cape 
Diamond. Under its shadow, on the narrow strip of 
land covered with its primeval growth, the founder of 
the great northern stronghold, which was to become the 
centre of action in New France for one hundred and 
fifty years, stepped ashore and began his work. The 
very day of his landing the axes of his labourers broke 
the solitude of the unpeopled wilderness, their ringing 
sounds the speaking signals of civilisation arrived at 
last. 



Chapter VI 
Founding of Quebec. 

Champlain's First Expedition against the Iroquois — Discovers Lake Champlain — 
Scenery — Situation of the Five Nations — Rout of the Mohawks — Affairs at 
Quebec — the Rival Factors. 

THE original Quebec consisted plainly of a few 
rough cabins such as a party of adventurers, 
equipped with the few implements at their com- 
mand, could build. These were constructed in the form 
of an open square, near the centre of which Champlain 
placed on the top of a pole a dovecote, emblematical of 
his peaceful intentions. Around the group of dwellings 
he raised a wooden wall, and outside of this dug a ditch, 
the few guns he possessed so arranged as to command the 
place. This was a prudent policy to pursue, though 
the deserted lodges of the people inhabiting this coun- 
try in the days of Cartier alone haunted the rock of 
Stadacone, and the triumphant cry of the dusky warrior, 
once master of these domains, found only a hopeless 
echo in the dismal croak of the raven or the howl of 
the wolf. 

If Champlain had little to fear outside of his own fol- 
lowers, it soon proved that he had enemies within his 
camp. Among his men were those who hated him for 

61 



62 The St. Lawrence River 

his check on the fur-trade, which they looked upon as a 
legitimate source of plunder, and a conspiracy was laid 
to murder him, and get control of affairs. Fortunately 
not only for the sake of Champlain, but for the weal of 
the little colony, this plot was betrayed by one of its 
tools, and the conspirators were treated with the usual 
vigour of this energetic leader. 

Presently the little settlement was visited by some 
Indians from the country to the west, who frankly ac- 
knowledged that they came in the hope of enlisting the 
" man with the iron breast," as they designated Cham- 
plain, for their ally in the troublesome wars they were 
having with their ancient enemies, the Iroquois. More 
fully than ever before the new-comers came to realise 
the deadly feud of long standing between the rival 
tribes of aborigines inhabiting the country, a struggle 
which had accomplished the ruin of Stadacone and 
Hochelaga. Champlain listened to their story with a 
friendly interest, knowing that it would be impolitic for 
him to refuse. For this act Champlain has been con- 
demned, and even if there was reason to censure him 
in this, it speaks in eloquent tribute to him that this 
alone stands against him. But in this it would appear 
that he followed the only feasible course open to him. 
Having cast his fortunes, as it were, among the Algon- 
quins and their allies, he of necessity must become their 
friend, and consequently opposed to that powerful ele- 
ment occupying much of the territory now included in 
the State of New York, with an influence felt far beyond 



Founding of Quebec 63 

their border. There was in reality no middle policy 
for him to pursue, though even he could not anticipate 
the far-reaching result to arise from his choice. This 
result, however, was destined to be tempered by the 
strength or weakness of those who were to follow him 
in his own path. Ay, had Champlain's successors 
always possessed his rugged honesty and courage of 
conviction, there would have been no occasion to ac- 
cuse him of mistakes, or to have written whole pages of 
the history of New France in tears and blood. 

Elated to know that they had secured such a power- 
ful ally, the Indians immediately urged their new-found 
friends to accompany them upon an expedition against 
their dreaded enemies, whose name they frankly con- 
fessed carried terror to the most remote regions lying 
between the sea and the sunset plains beyond the 
Father of Waters and fir fringes of the frozen north. 
Prompted by a desire to explore the country, as well 
as to add to his influence with the Indian tribes of the 
St. Lawrence valley, Champlain joined the Hurons and 
Algonquins with a handful of his followers in the 
spring of 1609, to enter upon his first memorable raid 
against the Five Nations. 

This expedition was made along a course afterwards 
to become famous in the French and Indian wars with 
the English, as it had been in the annals of the wildwood 
warfare for many generations. Keeping up the St. Law- 
rence to Lake St. Peter, they entered that river which 
lies like a broad arrow upon the landscape, reaching 



64 The St. Lawrence River 

from the lake of the highlands since christened in 
honour of the leader of this band, to Canada's great 
river. Cartier did not have time to explore it, and 
passed it by without giving it a name. Champlain, 
knowing it had been the main highway of the Iroquois, 
very appropriately called it Riviere des Yrocois, "the 
River of the Iroquois," which it would have been well 
to keep. But, later, when the renowned Cardinal- 
Duke Richelieu became the head of the French com- 
merce and navigation in New France, Chef, Grande 
Maltre, et Sur-Intendant Gtne'ral, it was given his 
name, which it still bears. In this respect it suffers no 
more than the lakelet forming its headwaters, whose 
apt Indian designation has been supplanted by the 
name (Lake George) of a king whose association with 
it is meaningless. Champlain pursued resolutely his 
course, as the poet tells us — 

Through woods and waste lands cleft by stormy streams, 
Past yew-trees, and the heavy air of pines, 
And where the dew is thickest under the oaks, 
This way and that ; but questing up and down 
They saw no trail. 

Upon getting as far as where is now the great dam 
of St. Ours, Champlain abandoned the undertaking for 
the time being. But the tidings was soon brought to 
him that the Iroquois, exulting over what they believed 
to be the fear of the allied forces, were planning to 
make a grand raid to recover their ancient fishing -and 
hunting-grounds of the valley of the St. Lawrence. 




J « 



S I 



Founding of Quebec 65 

Believing that it would be well to carry war into the 
enemy's country, Champlain determined this time to 
follow the River of the Iroquois to its source. Accord- 
ingly every preparation needed was made, the Algon- 
quins eager and anxious to encourage the expedition, 
realising that their possession of the Canadian paradise 
depended upon the success of this undertaking. 

With a flotilla of twenty-four canoes, his own skiff 
leading the way, Champlain moved silently and cau- 
tiously under the overhanging arms of the towering 
oaks and walnuts that grew abundantly along the river- 
banks, and anon under the deeper canopy of the wilder- 
ness of Belceil, until he came to where the stream 
broadens into what is now known as Chambly Basin, 
with its primeval intervales and deep-sounding woods. 
Where these last began to assume darker shades the 
voyagers came upon the rapids, which they were forced 
to pass around by the old Indian portage where now 
is the Chambly and St. John Canal. Just above here 
they came upon an island since christened Ste. Therese, 
which was then covered with a growth of pine that 
excited the keenest admiration of the doughty leader. 

Still on they moved in solitude past where the city of 
St. John now stands, and then past lie aux Noix, with 
a stirring history yet to be enacted. Noiselessly the 
little fleet glided around Rouse's Point, and the unsus- 
pected vanguard of civilisation advanced triumphantly 
into the very battle-ground of past and future races, 

Lake Champlain. Now the veteran of sea and land, 

s 



66 The St. Lawrence River 

the hero of many hard-fought battles, and the explorer 
of many strange scenes paused with uncovered head and 
unspoken applause to bend his keen gaze over the 
sheet of water which was to perpetuate his name. He 
saw, rich in their summer vesture, a scene of glistening 
water, wooded islands, shores banked in forests, distant 
mountains groined into "great domes of foliage" such 
as even he had never found before. Woods and water 
abounded with wild life, and in the lightness of heart 
given by the happy mingling of Nature's gifts, he 
quickly gave the order to move on into the mystery 
ahead, when his swarthy and dusky rowers plied anew 
their paddles, sending their light canoes swiftly over 
the crystal water, little dreaming, little caring for the 
horrors to follow in their wake, the wars and rumours 
of wars into which were to be drawn not only the 
several tribes of red men then claiming the country, 
but the French, British, Dutch, and Americans. 

Happily free from the burden of all this, the bold 
explorer continued to watch with a critical eye his sur- 
roundings, while his rowers carried him on into the heart 
of a region which it was fitting such as he should enter. 

To the west lay the Adirondacks, the ancient homestead of 
the Algonquin warriors who were his companions. Their fore- 
fathers deserted that picturesque wilderness for the gentler shores 
of Hochelaga, driving before them the then unwarlike Iroquois, i 
whom Cartier had found fishing, corn-planting, and road-making. 
Contrasting their own better fare with that of the improvident and 
often famished Algonquins, the Iroquois had nicknamed them 
Adirondacks, "bark eaters." Once in Canada, the Adirondacks 
1 Probably that branch known as the Hurons. — Author. 



Founding of Quebec 67 

became infused into the other Algonquin tribes that occupied the 
banks of the Ottawa ; but the ancient nickname still happily 
applies to their old mountain home. Through Emerson's muse 
these peaks have won a name in literature, as well as on maps ; but 
on that morning, and long afterwards, they were " titans without 
muse or name." Then away on his left Champlain saw the soaring 
peaks of the Green Mountains, which, through the French verts 
monts, have given name to the State of Vermont. The discoverer 
remarked, though a July sun was shining, that their summits were 
white with snow. 

Toward midnight an Algonquin scout discovered 
an Iroquois encampment at that place since become 
famous as Crown Point. Here Champlain prepared to 
wage his opening battle, and just as the rays of the 
morning sun were tingeing the distant forest with their 
gold he and his two French soldiers stepped out upon 
the headland. Soon after, the solitude of the country- 
was broken for the first time by the report of firearms. 
Watching this audacious approach of their enemies 
from their vantage-ground some thirty yards away, the 
disdain of the Mohawks was swiftly changed to terror 
at the sound of that discharge of powder which sent its 
death-dealing slugs into their midst. A panic followed, 
which ever rankled in the breasts of the discomfited 
braves, and which was paid for over and over again in 
future years, though it could not then save their town 
from the ravages of the conquerors. Considering this 
victory sufficient for the time, celebrating the event 
by giving his name to the lake he had discovered, 
Champlain immediately retraced his course to the St. 
Lawrence. 



68 The St. Lawrence River 

The significance of this rout of the Iroquois at 
Crown Point is shown by the fact that the allied nations 
of the Indians were not only undisputed masters of the 
Great Lakes, but they also commanded all of the prin- 
cipal rivers from the Ottawa and the Hudson to the 
Mississippi. It was estimated by La Hontan in 1684 
that the Five Nations numbered seventy thousand souls, 
and that they could muster nearly eight thousand war- 
riors. What the allied forces of Rome at the zenith of 
Roman glory were to Europe, were the combined tribes 
of the Iroquois to aboriginal America. Thirty years 
later a sixth tribe, the Tuscaroras, were admitted to the 
league, adding materially to their strength as well as to 
their numbers. Among these shrewd, stalwart sons of 
the council and the war-trail, by their boldness, sagacity, 
and eloquence, the Mohawks stood at the head. 

While the British, as a rule, showed greater wisdom 
than the French in not discriminating between native 
tribes, it was inevitable that the Five Nations, with the 
beginning that had been made, should ally themselves 
to a certain extent with the former. It was also in- 
evitable that the British should arm them, while the 
French did the same by the Algonquins and the Hu- 
rons. If the French went farther and taught the last- 
named tribes the arts of defence, it was because they 
intended them for allies. Neither the whites of New 
York or New England went as far as this, for they never 
sought to make the Indians their allies in the full sense 
of the term. 



Founding of Quebec 69 

The Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, held that the Iroquois 
Confederacy was under British protection, and through 
the long and bitter hostilities that followed, as a rule 
these tribes remained faithful to " Great Father." They 
proved so true in this direction that they fought against 
the colonists during the American Revolution, and at 
its close found themselves in the same situation as 
the Loyalists or Tories. In this dilemma they sought 
the protection of the Canadian government, then under 
British power, and were given reserves along the Grand 
River. Brant, at this time leader of the Mohawks, se- 
lected the fertile and beautiful valley where since the 
town of Brantford has sprung into existence. It was 
his purpose to establish here a reproduction of the agri- 
cultural community which had formerly made famous 
the valley of the Mohawks. Unfortunately he did not 
live to see his dream fulfilled. A period of peace with 
the red men was pretty sure to be followed by one 
of war, and after his death in 1807 the relapse of his 
tribe into paganism was speedy. 

We get an inkling of the condition of the Five 
Nations before the coming of the French and English 
from the fact that prior to Sullivan's expedition of fire 
and sword the valleys of the Mohawk and the Wyoming 
were set with great grain-fields, whose nodding heads 
whispered of Indian thrift, and the hillsides white 
with apple blossoms were huge flower gardens. It was 
to duplicate such a homelike picture that Brant la- 
boured so zealously, when the bloody drama of war was 



70 The St. Lawrence River 

practically over, and if the red men failed to follow 
the example of their leader it was because they fell 
victims to their own weakness rather than to the 
prowess of their enemies. As a matter of fact it was 
the vices of civilisation which overpowered them and 
not its manifold strength. It has been so with all 
native races. 

From his first expedition against the Iroquois 
Champlain had quite as much as he could do in making 
his journeys of exploration and war against the foes of 
his dusky allies, to say nothing of the repeated demands 
made upon him by the home government. Frequent 
changes in the control of affairs gave him not a little 
trouble. While remaining in France upon one of these 
visits he married a girl of twelve, though she did not 
accompany him to Quebec until 1620, the year the Pil- 
grims landed at Plymouth Rock. Upon his return from 
France in 16 13 he was stirred by the report that an 
adventurer named Nicolas Vignan had discovered the 
passage to Cathay by following up the Ottawa, and 
thence by other great rivers he claimed to have found 
in the north. It proved that Champlain, not less than 
other explorers, still dreamed dreams of this northern 
passage, and he quickly set about undertaking a voyage 
into the north, the result of which brought him only 
disappointment. Still, this failure did not deter him 
from making other trips of exploration and war into the 
interior. 

One of these incursions into the land of the Iroquois 



Founding of Quebec 71 

proved less satisfactory to him than the victory at 
Crown Point. This took him and his followers across 
Lake Ontario, to where the Onondagas lived behind 
the barriers of their stoutly fenced town. Filled with 
an unbounded faith in the supernatural powers of their 
leader, while ignoring his tactics of war, the Hurons 
and Algonquins attacked wildly the defence of their 
enemies and were as wildly routed. Champlain had 
taught them to construct a movable tower from which 
he and his companions might shoot over the walls 
of the Onondagas. But, becoming furious the moment 
the battle opened, Champlain's orders were drowned 
by their maddening cries, and he found himself power- 
less to control them. The result of the fight was 
disastrous to him. He was wounded in the knee and 
thigh, and the attack finally abandoned, very much to the 
chagrin of Champlain, who found he had lost, through no 
fault of his, the prestige he had hitherto enjoyed among 
his allies. Beating a headlong retreat, the disappointed 
Hurons then broke their pledge to take their leader 
back down the St. Lawrence to Mont Royale. Unable 
to make the journey without their assistance, Champlain 
was obliged to pass the winter with the Hurons, who 
treated him well, and one of their chiefs paid particular 
attention to his wounds. In the spring he returned to 
Quebec, where he had been looked upon as dead. 

During his absence Champlain had learned consider- 
able of Indian character which was to be of benefit to 
him and his followers in the succeeding wars. From 



72 The St. Lawrence River 

the nature of their combats they had been trained only 
to meet single foemen, or else to overpower a concealed 
body of men by massing themselves. They drilled for 
such encounters by sticking pieces of wood into the 
ground to represent the chiefs and their soldiers, a dif- 
erence in the size of the sticks used indicating the 
leaders and their followers. Taking a bundle of these 
sticks the chief would select a spot suitable for his pur- 
pose, and, having chosen his own position, mark it with 
a dummy, and then place in the ground a smaller up- 
right to show the position each of his soldiers was to 
occupy. They must then study carefully the position 
assigned them. This simple drill was practised until 
every warrior was perfectly familiar with his part. The 
Hurons entered into battle nude, except for the war 
paint daubed generously over their lithe forms. Cham- 
plain described the Mohawks, whom he routed upon 
the shore of Lake Champlain, as dressed in armour of 
cotton fibre, which was arrow-proof. When he came 
to discharge his arquebuse at a distance of thirty paces, 
loaded with four balls, he killed two chiefs and wounded 
a third. Small wonder these simple-minded sons of 
Mars, who had never witnessed anything like it, should 
become panic-stricken, fleeing in wild disorder at the 
second shot fired by one of Champlain's men. 

Meanwhile the little band of colonists at Quebec 
were making exceedingly slow progress. Fourteen 
years after its establishment the colony numbered less 
than fifty. In 1617 an apothecary named Louis 




THE CHAMPLAIN MONUMENT, QUEBEC. 
From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 



Founding of Quebec 73 

Hebert, who had experienced a season at Port Royal un- 
der Biencourt, settled at Quebec, with his wife and two 
children, this courageous family having the honour of 
founding the first household in Canada. Three years 
later, a few months before the Pilgrims made their 
wintry landing at Plymouth, Champlain brought his 
own family to Quebec. His wife was a woman of great 
beauty, enthusiasm, and accomplishments, and she en- 
tered heartily into the work of converting the women 
and children of the Indians, and of helping to raise the 
standard of morals then prevailing there. 

This unhappy condition of the social and intellectual 
life of the struggling colony was due mainly to the 
utter lack of honesty on the part of the fur-traders, who 
from the first had been a disturbing element. Meeting 
in Champlain a firm and powerful opponent to their 
nefarious purpose, they seemed to have developed the 
very worst phase of their character. To add to the per- 
plexity of the situation this monopoly of the traffic was 
constantly changing hands. Rivals were continually com- 
ing to the surface, old favourites were driven out, and 
scarcely had one set of men or one corporation become 
established before another would enter the contention. 
Always were they met by Champlain, doing all in his 
power to save the common people and the red men from 
the greed and corruption of the reckless fur-traders, who 
hesitated at nothing to carry their unjust ends. 

Champlain was obliged to cease his explorations, as 
loath as he was to do so. In the future this must be 



74 The St. Lawrence River 

left to others. He had all he could attend to in looking 
after the welfare of his infant colony, which was about 
equally divided between being a trading station and a 
mission. Out of this bitter rivalry were to spring two 
factors destined to become powerful in shaping the wel- 
fare of the new empire. These can be best treated in 
separate chapters. 



Chapter VII 
From Fur-Trade to Commerce 

Cardinal Richelieu and his Hundred Associates — First Surrender of Quebec to 
the English — Comparison of the Settlements of the St. Lawrence Valley to 
those of Massachusetts Bay — Trade Troubles Increase — Founding of Three 
Rivers — Death of Champlain — His Character — The Great Company Make 
Concessions — Laziness Denounced — Fisheries — Lack of Pilots — Early Ship- 
building — Fairs — Suppression of Knowledge — Ladies of Quebec — First News- 
paper in Canada — First Steamship to Cross the Atlantic — Commerce of the 
St. Lawrence To-day. 

WHILE the two infant colonies in America 
that were destined to become intense 
rivals in years to follow — the Pilgrims at 
Plymouth Rock and the little band under Champlain 
at Quebec — were undergoing such vicissitudes as must 
have disheartened less courageous founders, potent 
changes were taking place in the affairs of France. The 
religious wars of the sixteenth century brought to the 
surface of power a French statesman named Richelieu 
who had begun his military education as Marquis du 
Chillon and rose to become the most important political 
figure in Europe. He was made cardinal in 1622, at 
the time when Champlain was meeting his trying 
opposition, and in his ambitious desire to add to the 
greatness of France, he extinguished the remains of 
feudalism, subjected the higher nobility to the sway of 

75 



76 The St. Lawrence River 

the Crown, abased the House of Austria, and in his 
triumph at Rochelle crushed Protestantism. The con- 
queror now dreamed of bending Europe to his will. 
Again he dreamed, and this time saw visions of an em- 
pire in the New World, which he vaingloriously believed 
would revivify the grandeur of Old France, and im- 
mortalise his name in the wilderness of America. 

With vivid conceptions he ran over the names of the 
gallant discoverers, — the illustrious quartette of C's,— 
Columbus, Cabot, Cortes, Cartier. Now to these was 
added a fifth, Champlain, whose glowing accounts 
awakened his fertile imagination with such plots of 
conquest as had not stirred others. With less religious 
zeal than Champlain, he schemed to build upon the in- 
terest of the fur-trade. First of all, the complications sur- 
rounding this industry must be removed, and instead 
of many petty factions, quarrelling one with another, 
there must be a unity of effort. To secure this he caused 
to be discontinued the honourable office of Admiral 
of France, and created in its stead the office of Grand 
Master and Superintendent of Navigation and Com- 
merce. It is perhaps needless to say that he made 
himself head of this. He then organised a trading 
company of one hundred influential men. This body 
became the famous Company of the Hundred Asso- 
ciates, and Samuel de Champlain was its strongest 
member. 

The charter for Richelieu's company carried on its 
face the possession of all New France — Canada, Acadie, 




o 



h e 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 77 

Newfoundland, and Florida — and its members consisted 
of priests and religious workers, as well as traders and 
voyageurs. It openly declared that its first object was 
the conversion of the Indians to the faith of the Catho- 
lic church by its zealous teachers, the Jesuits ; in the 
second place, it was to extend the fur-trade ; and third, 
and last, to continue the search for a route to the 
Pacific Ocean. This was exactly reversing the order of 
purpose controlling the movements of Cartier, whose 
first object was to find the passage to Cathay. 

Under the policy of this company was established 
that feudal seigniory which so long dominated the 
methods of colonisation. It thought to end the re- 
ligious discords which had been such a disgraceful 
portion of previous efforts. No Huguenot or " other 
heretic " was to be allowed on its soil. The company 
was given a perpetual monopoly of the fur-trade, with 
a control for fifteen years of all other trade, except 
traffic in cod and whale fisheries. To those who might 
want to trade in furs, and who did not belong to the 
corporation, it was stipulated that the company should 
buy every beaverskin at the rate of forty sous each. 
The company was pledged to aid colonisation by 
sending out three hundred colonists the first year, 
and within the following fifteen years to increase the 
number to six thousand. As proof of its fealty and 
homage the company was to present each successive 
heir to the throne with a crown of gold. The King, as 
a personal tribute, presented it with two armed 



78 The St. Lawrence River 

battleships. Champlain was placed in command. The 
new company then sent out a fleet of eighteen vessels 
laden with provisions and commodities for the new 
colony. The command was entrusted to De Roque- 
mont, who sailed from Dieppe for Quebec in the spring 
of 1628. 

This was an anxious time for the handful of in- 
habitants by the rock of Quebec, who were languishing 
under short allowance of food and with hope at ebb- 
tide. All of Champlain's wonderful resource of tact 
and good cheer was called into play in order to keep his 
followers under control until the expected succour should 
reach them. But this was not destined to arrive. 
England and France, as usual during the long and try- 
ing period of American colonisation, were at war, and 
an adventurer named Sir David Kertk or Kirke, a na- 
tive of Scotland, at one time professing allegiance to 
the French but now carrying the flag of Great . Britain, 
sailed boldly into the harbour of Tadousac with his 
fleet of six vessels. Finding this trading station poorly 
equipped to resist him, he seized and pillaged the 
place. He then sent a boat up the St. Lawrence to de- 
mand the surrender of the starving colony at Quebec. 
Upon meeting an enemy seeking to destroy him, in- 
stead of some of his own countrymen coming to his 
rescue, Champlain answered the new-comers boldly. 
Despite the fact that he did not have fifty pounds of 
ammunition, and that the walls of his primitive fortifi- 
cations were sadly in need of repair, he sent word to 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 79 

the British admiral that he should defend Quebec to 
the last. 

Deceived by this reply Kertk abandoned for the 
time his scheme of attack in that direction and sailed 
down the river. Near its mouth he encountered and 
captured De Roquemont's fleet of eighteen vessels, tak- 
ing possession of the supplies so desperately needed 
at Quebec, whose hope was shattered by this calamity. 
Reinforced by his two brothers and their ships, Admiral 
Kertk continued to hover about the gulf for awhile, and 
then crossed the ocean to England with his prizes. 

Learning of the fate of De Roquemont and his 
transports, Champlain's little colony grew more and 
more despondent, as well they had reason to be. Their 
rations were reduced to seven ounces of pounded peas 
a day, until in May even this scanty supply failed and 
recourse was had to the roots that grew along the mar- 
gins of the streams, last year's acorns, and the green, 
tender leaves of the trees. In desperation some of the 
inhabitants sought the friendly Indians on the west, or 
the Abnakis on the east. It is possible that Champlain 
was contemplating invading the Iroquois country, to 
seize one of their palisaded towns, and take up his 
abode there. He would be pretty sure of finding a 
supply of corn, which was so sorely needed here. 

The season wore on into midwinter without any 
prospect of a relief from their friends, when the sails 
of three ships were discovered a league below Point 
Levis. There was no doubt as to the character of the 



80 The St. Lawrence River 

strangers, but even an enemy was not likely to receive 
a very cold reception. Champlain, with that display of 
rugged determination so natural to him, called around 
him his handful of ragged, hungry followers, now re- 
duced to sixteen in number, and calmly awaited the 
approach of the English under the cover of a white 
flag. It was not difficult to agree upon the terms of 
capitulation, and on July 20, 1629, the cross of St. 
George of England was planted for the first time upon 
Canadian soil. 

It proved that negotiations for peace were already 
well under way, and England thought so little of the 
prize won surreptitiously by Kertk, that Champlain, still 
loyal to his trust, but almost alone of his countrymen, 
succeeded in winning back to France by the skill of his 
diplomacy all of Canada. Then, it was said, the honour of 
France was saved, and her golden lilies were restored 
to the rock of Quebec. 

With the romance that clusters about its name, and 
the mystery clinging to its history, this fair emblem of 
French sovereignty — this flag of Champlain — is worthy 
of more than passing mention. Not unlike other 
insignia that have given inspiration to thousands and 
become the sacred symbol of the virtue of a race, the 
origin of the iris as the heraldic emblem of France is 
lost in the obscurity of distance. So far back does 
tradition carry us that it becomes evident it antedates 
the Frankish Government. But this does not rob the 
fleur-de-lis of the glory it shares with the prestige of 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 81 

France. It can even claim to have originated with the 
beginning of Christian France. According to story, 
Clovis, the pagan conqueror, before entering upon his 
battle of Tolbiac, 496, fearful of defeat, pledged his 
wife Clotilda, the Christian heroine of ancient Paris, 
that he would accept Christianity if he should gain a 
victory on the morrow. Pleased with this promise, 
which had long been her dream, she prayed continually 
for his success, and her prayer was answered. Clovis 
continued a conqueror. Within a year he and three 
thousand of his followers accepted the Christian faith. 
Immediately upon becoming a believer in her teach- 
ings, his beautiful wife presented him a blue banner, 
that her own hands had embroidered with golden fleur- 
de-lis, and declared that as long as the kings of France 
should keep that as their standard so long would their 
armies be victorious. Others, content to give it less 
ancient origin, claim that the iris was a device adopted 
by Louis the Seventh, in 114.7, j ust before undertaking 
his crusade to the Holy Land, which ended so dis- 
astrously. He may have simply revived the emblem 
that Clotilda gave to her illustrious husband. Let. it 
be as it may, the iris as an emblem of wide-spread influ- 
ence became popular about the middle of the twelfth 
century, and was conspicuous not only upon the na- 
tional flag, but upon church crosses, chalices, win- 
dows of houses, seals, and sceptres. 

The flag of Champlain, which was, of course, the 
naval standard, had a blue background, with the fleur- 



82 The St. Lawrence River 

de-lis in gold. The fleur-de-lis ceased to be the 
standard of France with the abdication of the citizen 
King, Louis Philippe, and the rise of the republic in 
1848, after an illustrious career of over a thousand 
years. It was succeeded by the tri-colour, which has 
held its place through the vicissitudes of French gov- 
ernment until the present day. 

Immediately upon the signing of the Treaty of 
St. Germain-Laye in 1632, Emeric de Caen, one of the 
sufferers from the recent war, was sent to receive 
Quebec from her captors. To him was given the 
monopoly of the fur-trade for one year, that he might 
be reimbursed for his losses. It was not a pleasant or 
prosperous scene that Kertk left when he pulled 
down the flag of England and sailed away, glad, no 
doubt, to get well rid of his prize. Parkman, in describ- 
ing the situation, says : 

Caen landed with the Jesuits, Paul le Jeune and Anne de la Noue. 
They climbed the steep stairway which led up the rock, and as they 
reached the top the dilapidated fort lay on the left, while farther on 
was the massive cottage of the Heberts, surrounded with its vege- 
table gardens, — the only thrifty spot amid the scene of neglect. 

Few Indians remained, having found the compan- 
ionship of the English less congenial than that of the 
French, and those remaining here were rioting under the 
maddening effects of liquor. De Caen's occupancy of 
the wilderness capital was not in accord with the aims 
of the Jesuits, and when, in the succeeding spring, 1633, 
the Hundred Associates again assumed control, rein- 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 83 

stating Champlain as governor, rejoicing reigned among 
them. The Recollets had removed to other fields, the 
Huguenots were expelled, and religious peace predomi- 
nated at the settlement under the dark walls of Cape 
Diamond. The two years that followed were the 
brightest Quebec had known. Champlain was now 
invested with all the power and prestige of Richelieu 
and his Hundred Associates, but he was soon to find 
that this could not be fully transplanted to the New 
World. In fact, he was finally forced to believe that he 
had no greater expectations from the new company 
than from any that had been organised before. He 
made such preparations for a defence from the Iroquois 
as he could, and this called for a station at Three Riv- 
ers strong enough to check any advance down the river. 
Another was needed below Quebec to prevent the Eng- 
lish from coming up, as well as a protection against 
the Indians in that direction. It was in vain that he 
asked for soldiers from France to maintain these sta- 
tions. Two aims were paramount in the minds of those 
who turned their gaze upon New France. One of these 
was still the conversion of the Indians by the Jesuits, and 
to carry on this work the missions here were strength- 
ened by the coming of four priests, Brebeuf, Masse, 
Daniel, and Davost. The other was the traffic in furs, 
which lasted during the summer season. This was 
not materially different at first thought from the 
course being followed by the Dutch in New Netherlands, 
and the English in New England. Albany found its 



84 The St. Lawrence River 

greatest source of revenue from it, and large consign- 
ments were annually shipped from Manhattan to 
Holland. New England was maintaining its trading 
posts on the borderland of the rival colonies at the 
headwaters of the Kennebec. But the similarity be- 
tween the last two colonies ended here. While the en- 
tire population of Canada numbered in the vicinity of 
only sixty, and could boast of only two households, 
fully four thousand English had settled about Massa- 
chusetts Bay, and already that tide of immigration had 
begun which was to bring twelve thousand more to the 
country. What was of even greater importance, these 
people were home-builders. They began at once to 
build ships and open commerce with distant places. 

No one realised this difference more keenly than 
Champlain, and in the hope of encouraging enterprise 
in this direction, in 1634, he began a new settlement at 
Three Rivers. He encouraged the priests in carrying 
the gospel still farther west, and Brebeuf and his com- 
panions went to establish their missions among the 
Hurons. In July Champlain made his last journey west- 
ward, in going to see how work was progressing upon 
the fort at Three Rivers. Shortly after, Le Jeune went 
to take charge of the new post. Then an epidemic broke 
out which threatened to destroy the settlement. A 
register of the baptisms and deaths in the hand of this 
faithful priest now remains as the only document of the 
old Canadian days that is in existence. The burning in 
1640 of the chapel of Notre Dame de Recouvrance, built 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 85 

by Champlain to commemorate the restoration of the 
town by the English, caused the loss of the early records 
of Quebec. 

July 22, 1635, Champlain met in his last council with 
the Indians at Quebec. According to their practice a 
goodly number of the Hurons were present, and the 
founder of New France spoke like a father to his 
children. Without dreaming that the end was so near 
the dusky listeners paid careful attention to all he said, 
for no man was so revered among them. A little later 
Champlain learned of the return from among the 
Indians of the west of the young Norman explorer, 
Nicollet, whose story fills so large a space in the Jesuit 
Relations of those days. On the 15th of August he 
wrote his last letter addressed to Richelieu, endeavour- 
ing to impress upon him the importance of assisting 
the colony. Two months later he was stricken with 
paralysis, from which he suffered until upon the after- 
noon of Christmas Day, 1635, in his sixty-eighth year, 
the " Father of Quebec " found surcease from his trou- 
bles in that sleep called death. There was genuine 
grief among those who stood around his bier, though 
none of his mourners fully appreciated or understood 
him. If he had failed in a great measure of reaping the 
harvest he had anticipated, it was not his fault. Had 
there been more Heberts and Gifarts with his followers, 
his disappointment would have been less poignant. 
The widow of the first-named still lived, and to this day 
can be pointed out to you the spot where this one early 



86 The St. Lawrence River 

householder of Quebec did more than all other yeomen 
towards establishing the permanency of New France. 
At this time across the valley of the St. Charles could 
be seen the stone manor of Robert Gifart, who had only 
the year before builded him here a home, where homes 
were the only thing lacking to make the new empire 
complete. 

The Jesuit Lalemant performed the last service, while 
Le Jeune delivered the eulogy. Then the body of the 
hero was laid away to rest in a tomb built by the feeble 
colony. In the changes which have taken place since 
then this mortuary chapel has been swept away, and no 
man can point out the resting-place of Champlain with 
any more precision than that his sepulture was made 
where is now an open square in the upper town. It 
matters little where he may have found his resting- 
place, so long as it was in the heart of the town he loved 
so well ; where his dust has mingled with the earth, so 
long as it is with the dust of the streets of that city which 
he founded with not a little sacrifice. Champlain has 
many mementoes and monuments, but the greatest and 
most enduring of these is the great and powerful city of 
Quebec. 

No true estimate of a man can be made without 
taking into account the influences, environments, and 
opportunities of his day. Champlain lived in a stormy 
period, when no man could count upon the friends of 
the day to stand by him on the morrow, and when cor- 
ruption entered soon or late into the relationships of 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 87 

most men. Above these wrecks rises the sturdy figure 
of Champlain, incorruptible and unchangeable. No man 
of his times was more sincerely mourned, and there is 
no one whose memory will live longer. Possessing all 
of the qualities needed for such arduous undertakings : 
a sublime patience, an enduring frame, a keen foresight, 
an unswerving passion for discovery, a mind capable of 
discerning the true from the false to a remarkable extent 
under his surroundings, a courage that never faltered, 
and a good cheer that always animated his companions 
with hopefulness, he was an ideal explorer. He was, 
too, a statesman of no mean quality, and if his scheme 
of colonisation ultimately failed, it was due to the system 
under which it was founded. The prestige of Richelieu 
waxed and waned ; the Hundred Associates yielded to 
a weaker combination ; but the influence of Champlain 
was still the guiding star of New France for a long 
time. Ay, while governments have changed, and a 
nation greater than even he could have conceived has 
risen upon the ruins of that he so fondly planned, his 
illustrious light kindled by the goodness of his heart 
cannot fade from the firmament of stars. 

Champlain was succeeded by De Montmagny as Gov- 
ernor, and in 1645 the monopoly of the fur-trade which 
had been enjoyed by the Company of the Hundred As- 
sociates was made over to inhabitants of the colony, 
who assumed all of the debts, and allowed the corpora- 
tion to retain all seignioral rights and an annuity of a 
thousand pounds of beaver-skins. It was now hoped 



88 The St. Lawrence River 

many of the evils which had prevailed would be stopped, 
and the colonists expected to receive direct benefits 
from the change. Under this arrangement, no private 
individual was allowed to enter into trade, and he could 
sell his furs only to the colonial corporation and at a 
fixed price. 

Even here we see the old spirit of monopoly para- 
mount. Individual rights were unheeded. Under this 
system, the evil was not lessened, while another was 
fostered. This was a habit of looking to the home 
government for encouragement in whatever enterprise 
was undertaken. Appeals of this kind were seldom 
ignored, more 's the pity. This served to encourage 
claimants, without materially adding to the trade and 
prosperity of the country. The result was demoralis- 
ing. Of all the industries, the people of the St. Law- 
rence were favoured in the matter of fisheries, as far as 
Nature had performed her part. But for one reason 
and another the progress was not made that should 
have been, in spite of the fact that the King was 
supposed to be heartily in accord with such an enter- 
prise. " His Majesty," wrote Denonville, in 1688, "de- 
sires you [the governor] to unite with the merchants to 
encourage the inhabitants to overcome their natural 
laziness, since it is the only way to save themselves 
from the poverty they are now suffering." Then, 
after declaring against the young men who "ran wild 
in the woods " for the sake of a few pelts, " Boston is 
getting rich out of it [the fishery] at our loss." 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 89 

We find in this same year that the St. Lawrence was 
without pilots and sailors. Twenty-five years later, En- 
gineer Catalogne reported to the government that the 
river was dangerous for vessels at many places, but that 
it was almost impossible to find a pilot. De Chalons 
writes at this period : " We ought to have a trade with 
the West Indies and other countries. Everybody 
agrees that this is true, but no one attempts it. Our 
merchants are too poor, or they are taken up with the 
fur-trade." 

As early as 1674, the energetic Talon undertook 
to encourage shipbuilding, but met with slight suc- 
cess. In 1 714, one Duplessis built a vessel, from 
which is dated the beginning of shipbuilding in Can- 
ada, which was so well adapted to become a great 
maritime nation. But the day when that glory should 
be known was still far distant. The slight interest paid 
to commerce reflected upon agriculture, which has since 
become such an important factor in the prosperity of 
the country. 

The absorbing trade was the traffic in beaver-skins. 
It seemed the best adapted to the wild, adventurous 
nature of the French colonists. Says Parkman : 

In the eighteenth century, Canada exported a moderate quan- 
tity of timber, wheat, the herb called ginseng, and a few other com- 
modities; but from first to last she lived chiefly on beaver-skins. 
The government tried without ceasing to control and regulate this 
traffic; but it never succeeded. It aimed above all things to bring 
the trade home to the colonists, to prevent them from going to the 
Indians, and induce the Indians to come to them. 



90 The St. Lawrence River 

To accomplish this purpose, annual fairs were in- 
augurated at Montreal and Three Rivers, when great 
fleets of canoes laden with pelts came down the rivers. 
In the former place, upon the day following the arrival 
of the Indians with their cargoes, a grand council was 
held on the Common between the river and St. Paul 
Street ; every possible courtesy was paid to the red men ; 
compliments were showered upon them, and then trade 
began. For a time good order prevailed, but the result 
was inevitable. The fair would become a wild scene 
of uncontrollable actors. Indians, clothed only in a 
feathered headdress, and armed with bows and arrows 
or a highly painted " trade gun " ; French bush-rangers, 
decked out in gaudy finery, and as untamed and un- 
tamable as the wild sons of the forest ; greedy mer- 
chants ready for any sacrifice to make a livre ; habitans 
in their plain, coarse garb, as lookers-on in a scene in 
which they had the smallest interest ; officials in high 
office, vainly trying to bring order out of chaos ; and 
sedate priests of St. Sulpice, in their dark robes now 
sadly bedraggled, praying and exhorting, — all these, 
and many others, became involved in a maddening, but 
picturesque, medley of human beings. 

A great check to the growth of commerce in the 
valley of the St. Lawrence was the suppression of 
knowledge. The government, blind to its own inter- 
est, was ever watchful to see that the merchants, and 
would-be merchants did not meet to discuss the situ- 
ation, and inform themselves by learning of others. 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 91 

Hence there was, with a single exception of little 
account, no bourse or place of exchange ; no encour- 
agement from one to another, and least of all from the 
officials at the head of affairs. The education of those 
who came to the country compared favourably with 
others of the times, but their children were not de- 
stined to be as fortunate. For the women to learn to 
any great extent, or to read such few books as had been 
brought from the homeland, was looked upon as a sin- 
ful waste of time. From such literature as was at their 
command, the latter deprivation could have been no 
serious loss, as it could not have afforded them great 
benefits. The complaint does not seem strange, under 
these circumstances, that the greater portion of the 
ladies in Canada took too much care of their dress, and 
squandered money upon it, with too little regard for 
the future comforts of the home. Professor Kalm of 
Sweden, writing in the middle of the eighteenth cent- 
ury, says of them with a hint of sarcasm : 

They are no less attentive to know the newest fashions; and 
they laugh at each other v when they are not dressed to each other's 
fancy. . . . The ladies of Quebec are not very industrious. 
A girl of eighteen is reckoned poorly off if she cannot enumerate 
at least twenty lovers. These young ladies, especially those of a 
higher rank, get up at seven and dress till nine, drinking their 
coffee at the same time. When they are dressed, they place them- 
selves near a window that opens into the street, take up some 
needle-work, and sew a stitch now and then, but turn their eyes 
into the street most of the time. When a young fellow comes in, 
whether they are acquainted with him or not, they immediately set 
aside their work, sit down by him, and begin to chat, laugh, joke, 
and invent double entendres j and this is reckoned very witty. 



92 The St. Lawrence River 

So far as the matter of frivolity goes, there is little to 
show that the sterner sex had any reason to claim greater 
industry. The daughters of families of all ranks did not 
disdain to go to market, and to carry home whatever 
they had purchased. With all their faults, real or im- 
aginary, it seems that the young ladies of Montreal felt 
" very much displeased because those of Quebec get 
husbands sooner than they ! " 

Returning to the subject from which this is a digres- 
sion, there was no printing-press in the colony to spread 
intelligence. It is true, one was brought to Quebec 
early in the eighteenth century, but it was looked upon 
as a dangerous experiment and sent back from whence 
it had come with all the despatch possible. The first 
newspaper did not appear until after the British con- 
quest, and its founder came from Philadelphia, as did 
another a few years later to begin the publication of a 
paper in Montreal, the second of its class in Canada. 
The enterprising young man in this venture was named 
William Brown, and his sponsor was the Rev. William 
Dunlap, a relative of the wife of Benjamin Franklin. 
Thinking there was a fertile field here for him to work, 
he took in as partner another young man named Gil- 
more, and the two prepared at once for their under- 
taking. The latter went to England to buy material, 
while Brown started for Quebec to make a beginning. 
Upon reaching Boston, and disappointed in not finding 
a boat to take him to Quebec, he started on horseback 
for an overland journey. Upon reaching Albany, he 



ABITATrON.JDE 
QVEBECQ, ^.ag 




HABITATION DE QUEBEC, FROM CHAMPLAIN'S SKETCH. 
Key to illustration : A, Storehouse ; B, Dovecote ; C. Workmen's lodgings and 
armoury ; D, Lodgings for mechanics ; E, Dial ; F, Blacksmith's shop and work- 
men's lodgings ; G, Galleries ; H, Champlain's residence ; I, Gate and draw- 
bridge ; L, Walk ; M, Moat ; N, Platform for cannon ; O, Garden ; P, Kitchen ; 
Q, Vacant space ; R, St. Lawrence. 



From Fur-Trade to Commerce 93 

completed his trip by boat, going down Lake Cham- 
plain, the Richelieu River to Montreal, and thence by 
the St. Lawrence to his destination, which he reached 
September 30, 1763. He then began a canvass for 
subscribers, and made all preparations for carrying on 
the business, learning during the interval the French 
language. In due season Gilmore arrived from Lon- 
don with a press, type, ink, paper, and other articles 
needed. The initial number of the paper, called the 
Quebec Gazette, appeared upon June 21, 1764, the first 
newspaper printed in Canada. Great credit belongs to 
the young men, who paid every dollar of debt they had 
incurred, and were very successful in their endeavours. 

Before the British conquest, Quebec had become 
quite a shipbuilding place, and as many as fifty vessels, 
varying from five hundred to two thousand tons burden, 
besides many smaller craft, were built here in a year. 
The oak used in the construction of these ships had to 
be brought from the highlands between New France 
and New England, as that growing about Quebec was 
too small and inferior in quality. French war-ships 
were built here for a time, but finally the order came 
not to build any more, as American oak did not have 
the lasting quality of the European species. 

As a great maritime highway, however, the St. Law- 
rence was not really appreciated until within half a 
century. But a quarter of a century before this, in 
1 83 1, Quebec sent from her stocks, with Montreal fur- 
nishing the machinery, the Royal Williain, the first 



94 The St. Lawrence River 

steamship to cross the Atlantic from the St. Lawrence. 
To Canada belongs the credit of originating the pioneer 
line of ocean steamers, the Cunard Line, founded by 
Samuel Cunard, of Halifax, in 1840. The first line of 
ocean steamers plying directly between Quebec and 
Liverpool was the Allan Line, founded by Hugh Allan, 
and his first ship was the Canadian, built at Quebec in 
1 852-1 853. Mr. Allan met with great obstacles in car- 
rying out his plans, but through his indomitable perse- 
verance won, and was eventually knighted in honour of 
his achievement. To-day the St. Lawrence is one of 
the greatest maritime highways of the world, and her 
commerce extends to the most distant ports of the 
globe. Montreal alone has a shipping trade amount- 
ing to 3,500,000 tons annually, and fifteen transatlantic 
steamship lines. At present Quebec has to take a sec- 
ond place in this department, though her citizens look 
hopefully forward to the day when she shall become the 
" Empire City " of that great maritime nation, Canada, 
and her sister across the way become her Brooklyn. 



Chapter VIII 
The Wilderness Missions 

Four Recollet Priests Come to Quebec — Were Explorers as well as Missionaries 
— First Missions — Encouragement of Agriculture — Recollets Forced to 
Abandon their Work — Taken up by the Jesuits — Work Interrupted by the 
English — Westward from the Ottawa — The Thessaly of Olden Canada — The 
Huron Missions — The Mission of the Martyrs — College Established at 
Quebec. 



M 



ENTION has been made of those who came to 
the valley of the St. Lawrence as religious 
teachers, and no narrative of the great river 
would be complete without their story and that of the 
wilderness missions founded by them. No story in the 
annals of history is of more thrilling and pathetic in- 
terest. It is filled with such personal sacrifices, trials of 
fortitude, and patient suffering as make the tales of the 
most adventurous explorers read like commonplace in- 
cidents. If it often showed confidence misplaced, and 
dreams the most sanguine could hardly expect to be 
fulfilled, the golden deed remains as a living monument 
of what man is willing to do, to dare, and to suffer in 
the zeal of religious work. 

The missionary was the saviour of the little bands of 
colonists in New France at the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century. Champlain, himself half missionary, 
with the other half voyageur, giving him a spirit 

95 



96 The St. Lawrence River 

Always roaming with a hungry heart, 

encouraged the coming of the Jesuits, though even he 
could not foresee, when a few years later he forbade 
the Huguenots to sing their psalms to the symphony of 
the St. Lawrence, that within a hundred and fifty years 
the fleur-de-lis he had so proudly planted upon the forti- 
fied heights of Quebec would be torn down, and New 
France, then empress of America, would be represented 
by a few fishing islands clinging to the coast of the great 
country he fondly believed was destined to reflect the 
glory of Old France. 

When Champlain brought to New France four 
priests of the Order of Recollets in 1615, a religious 
influence in more than name was given to the under- 
taking of founding the colony. It should be said to the 
credit of these new agents in the work that they came 
with words of peace and compassion, and a purpose to 
do and to suffer. The cruelty of the Spanish missionary 
in the South, which encircled the word " Christian " 
with such terrors, was unknown here. The Indian of 
Canada, with thrice the ferocity of his southern cousin, 
had no occasion to exclaim to those who claimed to be 
his Salvationists : 

" The devil is more kind to us ; we adore him ! " 
These brave men and their followers were not only 
missionaries but explorers and discoverers. Not only 
did they lead the way up the Kennebec from the shores 
of Maine to the St. Lawrence, but they pierced the 
wilds of the Saguenay, and pushed overland from 



The Wilderness Missions 97 

Quebec to Hudson Bay, the Recollet Father Le Caron 
being the first to carry the cross to the tribes of the 
Great Lakes. But, faithfully as they went about their 
work, for ten years these austere soldiers of the cross, 
in their grey garbs of coarse gown and hood, with 
wooden sandals on their feet, unused to the severe cli- 
mate of this country, moving hither and thither through 
the pathless wilderness upon what they believed to be 
errands of sacred duty, met with no perceptible success, 
though others, with far less sacrifice of comfort and 
personal vanity, were reaping a harvest from trade and 
from politics. 

Humiliated and dispirited, but not lagging in the 
faith, they felt compelled to ask the succour of that 
stronger brotherhood, the Society of Jesus, already 
established in Asia, Africa, and South America. Three 
of the Jesuits came, among them that giant in figure 
and intellect, Jean de Brebeuf. His companions were 
Masse and Charles Lalemant. Even the united efforts 
of these do not appear to have borne any lasting fruits. 
Quebec then was indeed but a collection of a few miser- 
able huts. With its surrender to Kertk, the career of 
the Recollets ended here, and that of the Jesuits for the 
time was suspended. 

Following the restoration of Quebec to the French, 
the Jesuits reorganised the mission here in 1632, and ex- 
tended their field of action so as to cover the whole of 
New France, a country reaching from the gulf to the 
Mississippi. Interrupted by the fortunes of war, they 



98 The St. Lawrence River 

continued their herculean task, having first to master 
the language of the people they hoped to bring to an 
understanding of their teachings. They established 
missions at Three Rivers, Montreal, Sillery, Becancourt, 
and St. Francis de Sales. These were intended for the 
Algonquins, who had settled along the St. Lawrence, 
the Montagnais, and such of the Abnakis as chose to 
come within the fold. 

Among the most noted and influential of the mis- 
sions was that of the palisaded station first named St. 
Joseph, but later honoured with the name of Com- 
mander Noel Brulart de Sillery, who gave liberally 
towards its founding. This was established in 1637, 
and enjoyed the distinction of accomplishing the first 
step towards bringing the Indians to adopt agricultural 
pursuits. Here twenty Algonquins were persuaded to 
take up the cultivation of the soil, but allowed to fish 
and hunt when not actually needed among the growing 
crops. 

Early in their work, the missionaries had come to 
understand that the greatest difficulty they had to con- 
tend with was the fixed habit of the red men to follow a 
wandering life, fishing, hunting, warring, never settling 
in one place, and always lapsing from their pledges by 
these frequent changes. Thus the missionaries endeav- 
oured to interest them in a more settled pursuit. At first 
this worked in favour of that growing power in the new 
country, the fur-traders, but they soon saw that if this 
idea was carried out it would end or seriously curtail 



The Wilderness Missions 99 

their enterprise. On the other hand, these "meets" 
between the dusky hunters and the buyers of their 
wares brought about several evils, not the least of which 
was the introduction of rum. So between the priest and 
the trader, one who thought only of saving souls, and 
the other of the profit from his traffic, there sprang up 
a rivalry which, at times, developed into feelings of 
bitterness bordering upon enmity. 

Eventually some Montagnais joined the other In- 
dians at Sillery, and the little hamlet grew gradually into 
importance. In 1640, its usefulness was increased by 
the opening of a hospital here by the nuns of Quebec. 
This was for the benefit of both French and Indians. 
After an existence of six years, the laudable enterprise 
had to be abandoned on account of the hostilities of 
rival tribes of red men. Soon after, the chapel and 
mission house were destroyed by fire. Then disease 
broke out among the Indians, the soil, exhausted by its 
prodigal treatment, refused to yield enough to sustain 
its meagre population, and the old Sillery was given up. 
The descendants of its original founders re-established 
themselves at a new mission named St. Francis de Sales, 
soon better known as the Mission of St Francis, of which 
I shall speak more anon. 

Father Bateaux established a mission at Three 
Rivers, formerly a trading station, to fall a few years 
later, 1652, at the hands of the Iroquois. He made 
some of the longest, most difficult, and most painful 
journeys recorded among his Order. 



L.o* c - 



ioo The St. Lawrence River 

The missionary settlement of Montreal was founded, 
1 64 1, by Maisonneuve, but this mission was soon taken 
in charge by Abbe d' Olier, who established in Paris 
four years later the " Priests of the Society of St. Sul- 
pice," and this colony was transferred to the Sulpicians 
in 1656. Afterwards this mission was removed to the 
Sault au Recollet, and from there to the Lake of the 
Two Mountains, where it still exists, the oldest in 
the country. Here several tribes of red men, among 
them the Algonquins, the Nipissing, and the Iroquois 
descendants, meet to-day. 

No permanent mission was attempted on le grande 
riviere, the Ottawa, though this was for some time the 
main way of travel by the missionaries into the west. 
The first Indians to trade with the French from the re- 
gion of the Upper Lakes were the Ottawas, hence that 
territory became known as the country of the Ottawas, 
though several other tribes dwelt within the region. 
From this came the modern name of the river. 

Looking westward, we behold the great battle-ground 
of the races. Here were lighted the momentous coun- 
cil-fires of the Iroquois ; here was carried from border 
to border the Huron's tocsin of war ; and here wound 
the war trails of nations that fought, bled, and perished 
in the same cause that has wrung tears from the old 
earth since it was young. This was the Thessaly of 
old Canada. Here the stately Titanis mustered his 
dusky legions, and went forth as did Varus of old 
Rome, to vanish into the night of the wilderness. 




w S 

W fa 



The Wilderness Missions 101 

Here was the home of the fiery Pontiac, who staked 
his all and lost on the ebb of the tide. Here, the cur- 
tain fallen upon the last act in the terrible drama of 
war, came the noble Brant to teach his people the ways 
of peace, dying with his dream a-dreaming. Here the 
grand Tecumseh rallied his faithful followers in the 
interest of an alien race, and here he fell, bravely bat- 
tling for a lost cause. No mean warriors these, worthy 
to stand shoulder to shoulder with the noblest of the 
Old World heroes. The door to this magnificent coun- 
try was the Huron Mission, of which it has been 
truthfully said : 

No men have, in the zealous exercise of their faith, performed 
hardier deeds than these Jesuits of the Huron Mission ; yet after 
three years of unremitting toil, they could [1640] count but a few- 
hundred converts out of a population of 16,000, and these were for 
the most part sick infants or aged persons, who had died soon after 
baptism. The rugged braves scorned the approaches of the fathers, 
and unmercifully tormented their converts ; the medicine men 
waged continual warfare on their work ; smallpox and the Iroquois 
were decimating the people. 

Still they clung to their work, and new missions 
were undertaken. During the thirty-five years in which 
they carried on their labours here, twenty-nine mission- 
aries entered the field, five of them sacrificing their lives 
on the altars of their ambition. But the end was in- 
evitable. The time came, in the summer of 1650, when 
the few survivors of the unfortunate missions aban- 
doned their last resort on some islands in Lake Huron, 
and with their flocks gladly accepted the hospitality 



102 The St. Lawrence River 

offered them by the founders of a small village on the 
Island of Orleans, just below Quebec. Even here, 
they soon found that they had not escaped the ven- 
geance of the Iroquois, and they saved themselves only 
by making a desperate stand at Lorette, also near Quebec, 
where are still to be found reminders of the faithful band. 

At this time the dusky allies of the French against 
the Iroquois, — the Montagnais, the Hurons, the Algon- 
quins, the Petuns, and the Neutrals, — had suffered so 
from the inroads of their enemies, not the least among 
which was that of disease, that the colonists of New 
France were threatened with complete extinction at the 
hands of the Five Nations. Not only had the Jesuits 
reasons to be disheartened, but the coureur du bois had 
found his forest trade ruined, and the settlements of 
Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal were sorely op- 
pressed by an enemy that knew neither mercy nor the 
limit of human endurance. 

In 1653 came an unexpected overture. This was 
nothing less than a proposal on the part of the Iroquois 
for peace, and an invitation to the Jesuits to establish a 
mission in their country. It was a shrewd act on the 
part of the Five Nations, as they were anxious to dis- 
tract the French from helping the routed Hurons, Al- 
gonquins, and Petuns to rally against them. This was 
essential to them, as they had about as much as they 
could attend to in stemming the tide of the Eries com- 
ing in upon them from the west, and of the Susque- 
hannas from the south. 



The Wilderness Missions 103 

The first missionary to enter the territory of the 
Five Nations had been Jogues, 1642, who went as cap- 
tive of the Mohawks. The second was Bressani, 1644, 
who had a similar introduction, and who, like the first, 
after a series of hazardous hardships, eventually re- 
turned with the forlorn hope that he could Christianize 
these warlike people. These two, with a companion in 
each case, suffered torture and death at the hands of 
those whom they would fain have converted to milder 
ways. In 1659, the Iroquois formed a conspiracy to kill 
all of the French within their country, and then to blot 
out of existence the settlements in the St. Lawrence 
valley. Fortunately, this plot was betrayed by one of 
their number, and the missionaries then among them 
managed to escape and reach Montreal after a series 
of adventures of the most hazardous nature. Though 
baffled at the outset, the Iroquois .-actually massed to 
carry out this far-reaching plan, the sequel of which will 
be told in another chapter. 

In the midst of this unstable condition, they again, 
as a subterfuge possibly, in the person of a Cayuga 
sachem, asked for another visit from the black-robed 
Fathers. As usual, the appeal was not made in vain, 
the fearless, patient Le Moyne answering the summons 
this time. He passed the winter with them. It was 
not until five years later, however, when the French 
had become strong enough to subdue four of the allied 
tribes, the Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas, and Senecas, 
that the missionary could go among them without fear 



104 The St. Lawrence River 

and trembling. The Mohawks, still stubborn, were 
humbled and humiliated only when their village had 
been laid in ruins. Among the converts of this period 
was one at least worthy of mention. She was an 
Iroquois woman known as Catharine Tegakouita, 
"the Iroquois saint," She afterwards founded a native 
mission on the banks of the St. Lawrence. 

The French did not wholly retire from this field 
until 1687, when the English had become so strong that 
they felt obliged to abandon an enterprise which at 
its most prosperous period was barren of great result. 
The New York Indians who had been attracted to the 
valley of the St. Lawrence were cared for at a palisaded 
mission, nearly opposite Montreal, known as the St. 
Francis Xavier. This mission, which was originally an 
outpost against the marauding Iroquois, was subse- 
quently removed to* Sault St. Louis, and is known to 
this day as Caughnawaga. 

The accounts of the sufferings and hardships borne 
by these pious followers of the cross surpass the belief 
of the most humane, and overleap the imagination of 
those who have not read them. It would seem as if the 
savage mind invented every form of cruelty that was 
possible to punish these heroic men who were sacri- 
ficing everything for them. Among them, none could 
exceed the Mohawks in their ingenious and devilish 
atrocities, hence the labour undertaken in their midst 
has appropriately been distinguished as "The Mission 
of the Martyrs." 



The Wilderness Missions 105 

So assiduously did they apply themselves to the task 
in hand, that within seven years of their second arrival 
they had accomplished the exploration of the country 
to the borders of Lake Superior, and thence down the 
Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. On the shores of 
the Great Lakes, they established their outposts of 
civilisation while yet the battle-cry of a savage race 
was awakening the fastnesses of the wilderness, — all 
this before the sturdy New Englander had cared to 
push away from the seacoast, and while the slow-mov- 
ing Dutch were occupied within their limited domains. 
Before Eliot, of New England, had addressed a single 
word to the Indians within six miles of Boston Har- 
bour, Le Jeune, Brebeuf, and others had mastered the 
Algonquin and Huron tongues, and were preaching to 
the dusky congregations in their own language. 

Neither the conversion of souls nor exploration was 
their paramount purpose, for the education of the 
young was ever in their mind. In 1637, while the 
English were debating the building, upon the banks 
of the river Charles, of Harvard University, a Jesuit 
named Rene de Rohaut established a school for Indian 
children and a college for French boys at Quebec. 
The first pupil came from the Huron country, under 
the charge of Father Daniel, who, in 1648, fell with 
half a dozen Iroquois bullets in his body, the second 
Christian martyr in New France. Nicollet, who had 
spent so much time among the Indians to learn their 
language, succeeded in furnishing several subjects for 



106 The St. Lawrence River 

the training of the pious teachers. But these dusky- 
seekers after knowledge came with little aspiration for 
light, and Father Le Jeune confesses that some ran 
away ; one was kidnapped by parents who could not ap- 
preciate the golden opportunity open to their offspring, 
while two others met more ignoble fates by gorging 
themselves to death with — not overstudy, but over- 
eating ! The college building, which was a wooden 
structure, was made into a soldiers' barracks upon the 
occupation of the city by the English. 

It is fortunate for those who seek for a knowledge 
of the scenes in which they figured that the missionaries 
were faithful chroniclers of what they saw and did, and 
that the French Government required them to render 
such reports from time to time. The style of these 
writers was simple in the extreme, while a pathetic inter- 
est pervades all they say. There is no other source of 
early history which contains so much of the customs, 
religion, legends, and language of the native races. The 
Jesuit Relations was originally published in forty small 
octavo volumes, and is now (1904) being reprinted, in 
Cleveland, in a definitive edition comprising 73 volumes. 



Chapter IX 
The Beginning of Montreal 

Founders of the Ursuline Convent in Quebec — Maisonneuve, the Champlain of 
Montreal — The Heroines of Ville-Marie — A Canadian Regulus — The Holy 
Wars of Early Montreal. 

IT must not be supposed by those reading the story 
of the wilderness missions that all of the heroism 
of founding the Catholic Church in New France 
belonged to the sterner sex. From among the gentler 
followers of the cross came spirits equally brave and 
self-sacrificing. The touching and beautiful pictures 
the devout Fathers sent home, in spite of the pain and 
the burden they had taken upon themselves, found 
sympathetic hearts in court ladies and youthful nuns. 
Many young and beautiful maids and matrons promptly 
vowed themselves ready to help in the grand work of 
upbuilding the missions of the St. Lawrence. 

" A charitable and virtuous lady is needed here to 
teach the word of Christ to little Indian girls," wrote 
Father Le Jeune, nothing discouraged by the obstacles 
constantly rising in his path of trying to educate the 
dusky youths. No sooner was his touching request 
heralded across the water, than thirteen nuns from one 

convent pledged their lives to work in the good cause 

107 



108 The St. Lawrence River 

in Quebec, or wherever they should be called. This 
same appeal awakened the religious ecstasy of another, 
even as the religious zeal of the young and beautiful 
Madame Champlain had been stirred twenty years be- 
fore into a determination to devote her life to the 
work. This good and pious woman was the widow 
of the lamented De la Peltrie, and, left childless, she 
resolved to become a nun. In vain her father, to 
force her to marry again, threatened to disinherit her. 
Upon the advice of a Jesuit she did allow arrange- 
ments to be made for the form of a marriage, but the 
death of her father, soon after, left her free to carry 
out the purpose which now absorbed her life. From 
the convent at Tours she easily secured three nuns to 
help her in founding an Ursuline convent at Quebec. 
One of these companions became the noted Marie de 
1' Incarnation, then a tall, regal woman of forty, with a 
romantic and pathetic history. She was both a widow 
and a mother, having been married at seventeen, and 
left without a husband at nineteen. It was only after 
long and earnest meditation, severe discipline, and de- 
vout supplication to the power upholding her that she 
could finally separate herself from her child. When 
she had at last concluded to take the veil, she was re- 
ceived by the Ursulines of Tours with great rejoicing. 
She was made Superior of the new convent at Quebec, 
and proved herself to be worthy of the hopes of her 
associates. 

M. de Montmagny, a Knight of Malta, had become 




MARIE GUYARD (MERE MARIE DE L'lNCARNATION.) 



The Beginning of Montreal 109 

the successor of Champlain, and though lacking the 
other's resourceful enthusiasm he did fairly well. He 
rebuilt, in stone, Fort St. Louis, close to the precipice ; 
he restored the fallen tenements of Champlain's first 
habitation ; he saw the first H6tel-Dieu rise on the 
cliff commanding the valley of the St. Charles ; and he 
looked with satisfaction upon the progress of Quebec's 
lonely farmer, Louis Hebert. He had encouraged the 
brave Ursuline sisters to found their mission at Sillery, 
where they nobly contended with disease and dangers 
such as must have discouraged less brave hearts. A 
memorial of their unselfish work endures to-day in the 
cloisters of Garden Street, where in the sweet repose 
of seclusion gentle followers of their faith minister still 
to the maids of French-speaking Quebec ; and yet an- 
other exists in Palace Hill Hospital, where the suffering 
are cared for as tenderly as in the dark days of Indian 
invasion when their Order undertook the humane work 
of establishing itself among the wilderness missions 
of 1639. 

Not alone was Quebec the scene of womanly devo- 
tion to duty and religion, but already the gaze of some 
of the religious spirits of France was turned upon the 
island situated at the vortex of two rivers, both im- 
portant waterways for trade with the natives of the in- 
terior. The very fact that this was in the midst of one 
of the most troublesome periods of Indian invasions 
made it the more imperative that an outpost should 
be established here. Mention has already been made 



no The St. Lawrence River 

of the founding of the mission of Montreal by Maison- 
neuve, under the patronage of M. Dauversiere and M. 
d'Olier, who established, four years later, the Order of 
St. Sulpice. The island of Montreal then belonged 
to M. Lauzon, one of the Hundred Associates, who 
was induced to transfer his title, with the reserve that 
they should not engage in the fur-trade nor build forts. 
The Society of Notre Dame de Montreal was then 
organised, and the leadership of the undertaking in- 
trusted to that brave Christian knight, Paul de Maison- 
neuve, who was worthy to wear the mantle of Champlain, 
and by his untiring efforts linked his name inseparably 
with the queen city of Canadian commerce, no little 
honour. 

Neither does all of the credit belong to this brave 
man. Among those who became interested in the laud- 
able enterprise was a devout lady, Mademoiselle Mance, 
who joined the mission, and encouraged three other 
women to go with the settlers. Forty-two men, be- 
sides Maisonneuve and the three women, after meeting 
at the church of Notre Dame, at Paris, to consecrate 
the new settlement, which they had christened Ville 
Marie de Montreal, set sail for New France. 

Delayed in getting started, they did not reach Que- 
bec in season to continue up to their proposed stopping- 
place. Here they met with an opposition they had not 
expected. Montmagny opposed the scheme upon the 
exceedingly plausible ground that the settlers were 
needed at Quebec ; that it would be folly to try and 



The Beginning of Montreal 1 1 1 

establish another settlement in the very teeth of the 
enemy, when he had all he could do to defend his own 
flock. The governor knew whereof he spoke. Only a 
short time before had the Iroquois, grown bold and 
sinister with their previous successes against their rival 
tribes, sent two Frenchmen, whom they had captured, 
in advance of their large force, to demand the surrender 
of the post at Three Rivers. The terms proposed were 
for the French to accept an armistice of peace, and 
leave their Algonquin allies to the mercy of their foes. 
The messenger, whose name was Francois Marguerie, 
under a flag of truce, did as he was bid in delivering the 
infamous message intrusted to him. Then, seeing his 
countrymen wavering in their duty, knowing the fearful 
odds they were facing, he broke forth into a defiant state- 
ment of their duty to the allies who had always stood 
by them, and who would be butchered in cold blood by 
the Iroquois did they accept such conditions of peace. 
His bold words saved the honour of New France, and 
it was decided that a desperate stand should be made 
until the last. Marguerie was then advised to remain 
with them, as it was known he would be put to the 
most fiendish torture should he return to his captors 
after having betrayed them in this manner. But this 
modern Regulus pointed out that if he did not go back, 
his companion, who was held as hostage until he should 
return, would have to suffer in his place. Under these 
circumstances Marguerie heroically bade adieu to his 
companions and went back to meet his fate. Fortun- 

i 



ii2 The St. Lawrence River 

ately, the delay caused by this parley enabled the gov- 
ernor to send a small body of reinforcements to the 
post, and upon learning of this the Iroquois abandoned 
the siege. They also consented to let Marguerie and 
his companion go free upon a ransom, and thus the 
hero was spared the fate that he expected when he 
decided upon his bold stand. 

Maisonneuve was equally firm in his purpose. He 
showed how he was simply an agent with an appointed 
duty before him. " I have not come here to deliber- 
ate," he declared, "but to act. It is my duty and my 
honour to found a colony at Montreal ; and I would 
go if every tree were an Iroquois." That autumn, Octo- 
ber 14, 1 64 1, the site of Ville-Marie was dedicated, but 
the settlers wintered in Quebec, where their leader was 
looked upon by the governor as his rival in power. He 
softened somewhat in his attitude with the coming of 
spring, and accompanied the colonists upon their trip in 
May to their future homes. 

Over the route that is now accomplished by one 
of the river steamers in as many hours, Maison- 
neuve's little fleet forged its way for fifteen days, when, 
on the 17th of May, the rounded slopes of Mount 
Royal, clad in the delicate green foliage of spring, burst 
into sight, stirring the hearts of the anxious beholders 
with new-found joy. They were delighted with the 
scenery, the fragrance of the springing forest per- 
meated the balmy air, and, what was dearer far to them, 
over the water and over the landscape rested an air 



The Beginning of Montreal 113 

of peace quite in keeping with their pious purpose. 
There was nothing save rumours of an enemy that never 
allowed their vengeance to sleep, to forewarn them of 
the bloody deeds so soon to be enacted upon that fair 
scene. 

As belonged to him, Maisonneuve was the first to 
step upon the land, and as the others followed him, 
Mademoiselle Mance next to their leader, they fell 
upon their knees, sending up their songs of praise and 
thanksgiving. Their first work was to erect an altar at 
a favourable spot within sight and sound of the river- 
bank, the women decorating the rough woodwork with 
some of the wild-flowers growing in abundance upon 
the island, until the whole looked very beautiful. Then 
every member of the party, from the stately Governor 
Montmagny, in his courtly dress, the tall, dignified 
Maisonneuve, the fair, brave women, with their female 
attendants, lending grace to the scene by their presence, 
to the humbler persons, — the artisans, soldiers, and 
sailors, — knelt in solemn silence while M. Barthelemy 
Vimont, the Superior of the Jesuits, in his dark, ecclesi- 
astical robes, performed the ceremony of high mass. 
As he closed, he addressed his little congregation with 
these prophetic words : 

" You are a grain of mustard seed that shall rise 
and grow till its branches overshadow the earth. You 
are few, but your work is the work of God. His smile 
is on you, and your children shall fill the land." 

Speedily the site of Ville-Marie was surrounded by 



ii4 The St. Lawrence River 

a palisade, but the hospital erected by them was set 
outside of this wall. This was a stone structure, look- 
ing more like a fortress, which it proved to be in the 
battles to come. The summer passed quietly, while a 
little village of small wooden houses sprang up around 
the spot. A small chapel was built over the altar. 
Happily the band remained in ignorance of the bitter 
strife being waged all around them. 

As yet the Iroquois had not discovered the presence 
of this party of brave colonists daring to invade terri- 
tory they claimed belonged to them. Certainly they 
had shed blood enough to possess it. But all too soon 
the discovery was made, when they patrolled the woods 
in large bodies and in small, waiting for the opportunity 
to strike the blow which should sweep this new outpost 
from existence. The stockade was deemed insufficient 
to meet such an enemy, and it was replaced by solid 
walls and bastions. This summer was passed in anx- 
iety and alarm. The cultivation of the soil had to be 
abandoned, except as it was done under the protection 
of arms. The fuel needed to keep them warm during 
the cold weather had to be procured under cover of 
arms. Cut off from intercourse with the posts below, 
that were experiencing equal extremities, Ville-Marie 
was little better than a prison-pen. The Iroquois held 
a rough fort at Lachine, and had openly declared that 
they would not rest until they had cleared the country of 
both French and Algonquins. Some Hurons, falling into 
a trap of their setting, to save themselves betrayed their 



The Beginning of Montreal 115 

allies, and assured them that it would be an easy matter 
to capture Ville-Marie, which was too poorly equipped 
to stand a siege. 

Another winter passed in inactivity. Now and then 
the enemy had been seen, and an occasional skirmish 
took place, but Maisonneuve counselled prudence. As 
might have been expected, some of his men began to 
murmur, saying that a bold onset would scatter the 
foes. Their sagacious leader replied that a single de- 
feat would ruin all. Better to remain inactive and 
watchful than to hazard their fate by overconfidence 
in their strength. That fall the little colony had re- 
ceived from France several watch-dogs, which proved 
remarkably intelligent and useful. One, named Pilote, 
was especially helpful, acting as scout and sentinel, 
leading her train in evident enjoyment upon her round 
of duties. 

One morning in early spring, while the snow still 
lay deep upon the ground, Pilote was sent out upon her 
daily round of reconnoissance. She had not been gone 
many minutes before she came bounding back, barking 
furiously, as much as to say, " The enemy are skulking 
in the woods." " Let us prove if the dog be right or 
not," said the soldiers among themselves, and Maison- 
neuve answered promptly that they should have the 
opportunity to see all the fighting they would care for. 

Eagerly the men, whose bravery over-ruled their 
better judgment, armed themselves with guns, and 
fastened snow-shoes upon their feet. As there were 



1 1 6 The St. Lawrence River 

not enough of the latter for all, some went without. 
Thus, in battle array, Maisonneuve marched his band of 
thirty out of the fort into the clearing, covered deeply 
with the melting snow. Entering the deep forest they 
could see no sign of the enemy, and the soldiers began 
to think that Pilote had given a false alarm. Then a 
volley of bullets and arrows whistled around their heads, 
and the words of Maisonneuve proved a prophecy of 
truth, when every tree became an Iroquois ! 

The suddenness of the attack, the outburst of yells 
coming from throats of demons, fairly paralysed the 
soldiers, who were unused to Indian warfare. Massed 
in a bunch they must have fallen easy targets for the 
arms of the Iroquois, who were exultant over their sur- 
prise, had not their leader proved himself wise enough 
to order them to get behind the trees. Three or four 
were already killed and several wounded. The brave 
fellows returned the fire of the Iroquois, and, reloading 
their firearms, poured a second volley into the forest, 
though few, if any, of their bullets took effect. Maison- 
neuve was shrewd to see that such a fight, if continued, 
was sure to end disastrously to them, so he ordered a 
retreat, instructing his men to bear off the dead, and to 
gain a sledge-path leading to the fort. Nothing loath 
they obeyed, while the gallant Maisonneuve covered 
their retreat with his pistols, the Indians following upon 
their steps, while they dodged from tree to tree. Upon 
gaining the sledge-track the soldiers fled in such dis- 
order to the fort that they were mistaken by the occu- 




SIEUR DE MAISONNEUVE. 



The Beginning of Montreal 1 1 7 

pants for the enemy, and, but for a timely warning from 
one of the women would have received a volley of 
bullets from their friends. 

With a pistol in either hand Maisonneuve slowly 
followed his men, keeping his eye upon his foes, who 
refrained from shooting him, as they now considered it 
a great honour to capture such an enemy alive. War- 
wise in this course of action, the brave captain kept 
them at bay, until the last of his soldiers had got within 
the gate, with the bodies of the dead and the wounded. 
Then he began to look to his own safety, when an Iro- 
quois chief, seeing their last opportunity of capturing 
him slipping away, sprang boldly forward to intercept 
him. But Maisonneuve proved that he was alert for 
such an act, and before the other could close in upon 
him he sent a bullet through his brain. The next mo- 
ment he leaped inside of the gate, gladly opened to him 
by his anxious companions, who shouted for joy over 
his escape. Henceforth no man ever questioned the 
courage of their leader, who had shown himself a hero. 

The death of the chief threw the Iroquois into such 
confusion that his body was dragged away without fur- 
ther attack being made. The spot where the valiant 
Maisonneuve stood when he fired the shot that saved 
himself and his friends is now known in commemora- 
tion of his deed as Place cCArmes. And so prophetic 
have the words of the Jesuit Father proved that it lies 
in the heart of a great commercial city and near to that 
noted church, Notre Dame, the largest cathedral in 



u8 The St. Lawrence River 

America, with the exception of one other standing on 
the site of the ancient Aztec pyramid of Mexico. 

While a period of comparative peace followed for a 
time, this little outpost of civilisation was never free 
from concern over its safety. Making the Richelieu 
River, as they had always done, their main entrance 
into the valley of the St. Lawrence, the Iroquois would 
lie in ambush along Lake St. Peter to intercept the fur- 
traders coming down from the upper country, or send 
their scouting parties farther down the stream to waylay 
whomever they could find. As has been mentioned, 
Montmagny built a fort at its mouth, but this, though 
meeting successfully an attack upon it, the wily red man 
found many ways to get around, and maintain a barrier 
of armed forces between this upper outpost on the St. 
Lawrence and the settlements below. This state of 
affairs lasted for over ten years without an abatement 
of its terrors and its horrors. During the interval the 
Jesuits, in the person of Father Jogues, had their first 
experience in the homeland of the Iroquois. In the 
west the Huron missions had suffered beyond the 
power of description, until finally the few survivors fled 
toward Quebec, finding a place of refuge at Sorel. 

At this time the colonists of New England were 
enjoying peace and a rapid growth of population. The 
confederacy known as " The United Colonies of New 
England " was formed to secure such protection as could 
be obtained from a union of interests. Hitherto, and in 
the years to follow, however, the settlements in New 



The Beginning of Montreal 119 

England artd those in the valley of the St. Lawrence 
might flourish, whether planning war upon each other 
or enduring internal strife at home, neither knew, or 
seemed to care, what the other was doing. At this 
time, however, the eyes of the prosperous New Eng- 
enders became turned upon the region along the St. 
Lawrence, and a treaty of perpetual amity was pro- 
posed between New France and New England. Com- 
ing in the midst of such distress as the former colonists 
were enduring it was received with joy by them. 
Montmagny had been succeeded as governor by D'Aille- 
boust, and he immediately sent as a representative to 
act in their behalf Father Druilettes to confer with the 
English council at Boston. Smarting under the terrible 
blows being dealt against them by their unswerving 
foes, the Government at Quebec stipulated that one 
condition of the treaty should be that the colonists of 
New England should join with them in exterminating 
the Iroquois. This the latter stoutly refused to do. 
An armistice of peace had existed between them and 
the Five Nations which they had no desire to break. 
The emissary from Canada was firm in his demands, 
and so the negotiations came to naught. Disappointed 
in this direction Druilettes resolved to secure an ally 
elsewhere, and so astutely did he manage matters that 
he won over to his cause the Abnaki tribes in the east, 
who had shown but little disposition to be unfriendly 
to the English. So, instead of averting bloodshed as 
they had hoped, the New Englanders were drawn into 



120 The St Lawrence River 

a series of struggles and bush battles which, with few 
and short cessations, lengthened into a war lasting over 
a hundred years. 

Nor were the French able to escape what they had 
hoped to throw off in a large measure. Learning of 
this intrigue the Iroquois became more bitter than 
before in their hostilities. Their lonely settlements in 
the heart of New France never rested in peace. Un- 
der the canopy of the great forest skulked a foe that 
never slept, and so bold did he grow that his war- 
plumes danced under the very guns of St. Louis on 
the fortified rock of Quebec. If the brave hearts at 
Quebec fairly hushed their beating, how silent it must 
have been behind the walls of Ville-Marie ! Fasting, 
penance, and prayer reigned supreme among these 
brave, but well-nigh hopeless, colonists, only fifty in 
number, and environed by a wilderness that was a 
veritable beehive of dusky foemen. 

In 1653, while the Iroquois were busy in exterminat- 
ing another tribe of red men, the Eries, the colonists of 
the St. Lawrence were given a breathing spell. The 
missionaries were brought into renewed activity, being 
called among the rival tribes to carry on their work of 
building missions and saving souls. But the cloak 
of promised protection held under its folds the viper of 
death. The Five Nations of the Iroquois were agreed 
to unite in exterminating the missionaries and attend- 
ants in their midst, and then sweep the St. Lawrence 
valley clean of Frenchmen, which has already been 



The Beginning of Montreal 121 

mentioned. The hero of this scene in the drama of 
races was the intrepid Dupuy, who was in command of 
a little band under the supposed protection of the 
Onondaga Mission. Learning from secret sources of 
the plot of the Indians, he had his men construct some 
very light boats within cover of the fort. As soon as 
these were completed he invited the Onondagas to a 
feast, which was so liberally furnished that the Indians 
ate and drank themselves into an unnatural sleep. 
While they slumbered their entertainers stole away 
with their boats upon their shoulders. Reaching the 
Oswego River, though it was in mid-March they suc- 
ceeded in making their passage to the lake, and from 
thence down the St. Lawrence to Quebec. 

In the meantime at Ville-Marie, Mademoiselle 
Mance, though beginning to feel the infirmities of 
years, with her associates, was kept busy caring for the 
sick and wounded at her hospital. Another brave wo- 
man, young in years, and with a good inheritance had 
she remained at home to enjoy it, came to Ville-Marie 
to teach the children, opening her school in a stable, 
lodging herself in the loft. In fact, others of the gentle 
sex found their way upon this stormy scene, lured 
hither by intoxicating stories of the good they might 
accomplish among the poor and needy. Many of these 
came through the agency of that arch-scoundrel, Dau- 
versiere, whose name has already been mentioned. It 
was even claimed that he had kidnapped and sold them 
into this life of sacrifice. 



122 The St. Lawrence River 

As well as men and women the missions needed 
money, and in 1658 Mademoiselle Mance and Mar- 
guerite Bourgeoys, a young teacher, visited France to 
solicit aid. They were so successful, through the aid of 
the Sulpicians, that a large body of emigrants came with 
them upon their return, and an energetic Sulpician 
Father, the Abbe de Queylus. The latter established 
the seminary which had long been the dream of the 
colony. The dwellings were increased to fifty well- 
built houses, compactly situated, and protected by a 
fort and stone windmill where is now St. Paul Street. 

The brief term of peace which had allowed this hope- 
ful upbuilding now proved but a lull in the storm of 
what has passed into history as the " Holy Wars of 
Montreal." The Iroquois again took the war trail, 
fiercer, stronger than ever. Victims were scalped 
within sight and sound of the only stronghold within 
New France. Thither fled the frightened nuns from 
their stone convents, and thither the fur-traders and 
voyageurs looked for succour. In the midst of this 
thrilling situation intelligence was brought of a great 
war-party of Iroquois descending the Ottawa River 
to hurl itself upon Ville-Marie. Under its impending 
doom, amid the prayers of priests and women, rose the 
hero of this occasion, a young nobleman named Adam 
Daulac, Sieur des Ormeaux, since frequently called Dol- 
lard, who had come to Montreal a short time before, as 
it would seem, for just such an opportunity as this. 
His story is worthy of a separate chapter. 



Chapter X 
Spartans of Canada 

The Story of Daulac and his Heroic Band, Every Man of whom Died for New 
France — How Twenty-two Heroes Held Seven Hundred Iroquois Warriors 
at Bay. 

THE pioneer days of all countries are filled with 
deeds of heroism, and the names of many he- 
roes and heroines stand boldly out on the his- 
toric pages as conspicuous examples of faithfulness unto 
death for generations to come, inspiring their descend- 
ants with love for homeland. The early history of 
Canada is especially bright in this respect. But among 
her many fearless builders and defenders no figures 
stand forth in bolder relief than Daulac's little Spartan 
band that dared and did so much for New France in 
the stirring and perilous period of Iroquois invasion. 

Adam Daulac, or Dollard in its Englished form, was 
only twenty-five years old, but, belonging to an old fam- 
ily of soldiers, he had seen considerable military service 
as a regular in the army of France. Unfortunately his 
record was blackened by the charge of cowardice, and 
his sensitive nature writhed under the accusation, which 
was really groundless. Smarting under this humiliation 

he had come to New France with the avowed purpose 

123 



124 The St. Lawrence River 

of washing out by some deed of prowess the stain on 
his otherwise proud name. In a new country he fondly 
believed he would find greater field for his desire. Now 
he believed his opportunity had come. 

Thus he watched the uprising of the Iroquois with 
feelings far different from those who listened to the 
reports with trembling. Instead of waiting in fear and 
suspense for the savage enemies to gather their wild 
forces and hurl them en masse upon their homes, poorly 
fitted to withstand a siege, he favoured carrying war 
into the others' midst. Such a course, he argued, would 
do more to disconcert the Iroquois than a hundred 
fights made on the defensive, however bravely the stand 
might be taken. Unless something of this kind were 
done they would grow bolder as the season advanced, 
and as the men of necessity became more busy about 
their growing crops the Indians would be given greater 
opportunity for action. 

So, obtaining permission from the governor to raise 
a party of kindred spirits to take the war trail, Daulac 
soon enlisted sixteen as brave and dashing spirits as 
himself. For reasons of his own he accepted only those 
who had no families depending upon them for a living, 
and no man older than himself. As far as possible he 
selected those, who, through some disappointment, had 
grown reckless and placed a low value on life. He 
then advised them all to make their wills, if they had 
any property which they wished to dispose of, in case 
they failed to return. 



Spartans of Canada 125 

The older men of the vicinity asked that the expedi- 
tion be delayed until they could plant their seed, when 
they would gladly accompany the others, and thus 
bring the company up to a respectable number. Daulac 
met this with the argument that a small body of men 
could move faster and easier than a large number, and 
thus be better able to surprise the Indians, which would 
be the only hope of a success. 

After having seen that his little band had taken an 
ample supply of arms and ammunition, among the former 
several heavy musketoons, or small cannon, together 
with as much crushed corn as was deemed best, Daulac 
was ready to set forth upon his perilous mission. The 
Sacrament was received and their confessions made in 
the little chapel, while their many friends, who felt they 
never should see them again, bade them a tender, 
tearful good-bye. 

A fair April morning was breaking over the north- 
land as the brave seventeen resolutely set the prows 
of their stout canoes up the stream, and entered upon 
the first stage of their arduous and dangerous journey. 
The river swollen by the floods of spring and still carry- 
ing floating cakes of ice, they were six days in stemming 
the rapids of Sainte Anne, and only the most deter- 
mined battle with the elements enabled them to enter the 
furious Ottawa. But strengthened rather than daunted 
by this difficult beginning they pushed ahead, crossed 
the Lake of the Two Mountains, and paused for their 
first respite at the foot of the angry current of Carillon. 



126 The St. Lawrence River 

Daulac cheered his companions with stories of 
Champlain on his first voyage up the Ottawa, and soon 
they gazed upon the stormy rapids where the great 
explorer had nearly lost his life. Looking upon the 
rock-strewn waterway where the mad current leaped 
and roared and flung twenty feet into the air its white 
and yellow mane, they wisely concluded it would be 
impossible for them to ascend the cataracts of Long 
Sault at this time. Even if that were possible, the 
news which had reached them that a large war-party 
of the Iroquois were encamped just above warned them 
that it would be running into a trap. Their leader, 
whose judgment was seldom questioned, argued that it 
would be better to lie in ambush near by and attack the 
enemy when they should come down the turbid stream. 

It happened that an Algonquin war-party the pre- 
vious year had made a small clearing and hastily con- 
structed a fort surrounded by palisades. Though this 
simple fortification had fallen into a dilapidated condi- 
tion during the winter, it was quickly decided to make 
it their rendezvous, and repair it as soon as they had 
somewhat recovered from the exhaustion of their efforts 
in battling with the current. So their supplies of pro- 
visions and ammunition were taken inside the fort, their 
canoes dragged up out of the reach of the water, a 
hearty meal eaten, when they wrapped themselves in 
their blankets and lay down to the rest and sleep so 
greatly required, putting off until another day the 
improvement they intended to give the fort. 




a a 



Spartans of Canada 127 

The night proved uneventful, and the following 
morning Daulac and his men were both surprised and 
pleased at the appearance of a party of Indians, consist- 
ing of Hurons and Algonquins, who hated the Iroquois 
and consequently professed friendship for the French. 
These dusky allies numbered forty-four, of whom only 
four belonged to the Algonquin tribe. Daulac himself 
had little confidence that the Indians would stand by 
them in case the fight should become close, as the Hu- 
rons were not noted for such qualities, having of late 
several times deserted the French at a critical moment. 
However, he had no reason to doubt the courage and 
loyalty of their leader, so he was fain to accept their 
proffered aid, and the repairs upon the fort were be- 
gun with promptness and strong belief in their suc- 
cess against the enemies, who the Huron chief assured 
them were even then close at hand. 

They were in the midst of this work when one of 
the scouts reported that two canoe-loads of Iroquois 
warriors were shooting the rapids at that moment. 
Axes were immediately exchanged for firearms, and 
the allies waited impatiently for the appearance of their 
enemies. The suspense was of short duration, and 
having passed the falls in safety the Iroquois were in 
the act of landing just below, as Daulac gave the word 
to fire. But in the excitement so many shots were 
wasted that a portion of the Iroquois escaped up the 
bank of the river. These carried the news of the at- 
tack to their companions encamped above the rapids, 



128 The St. Lawrence River 

and preparations were hastily begun to make a raid 
upon the French and their allies. 

Meanwhile Daulac and his companions, speaking 
lightly of what they had done, cooked their morning 
meal, and were eating it when they were apprised 
of the approach of a hundred canoes of Iroquois ! 
Quickly as they ended their breakfast, before they could 
carry their cooking utensils into the fort the foremost 
of the invading Indians shot into sight, borne down- 
ward by the wild river with a rapidity that appeared 
startling to the beholders. 

If the watchers from the fort at first thought it pos- 
sible they would pass them without molestation, they 
were speedily shown the contrary, for upon reaching 
the calm water at the foot of the rapids the occupants 
of the canoes swarmed out upon the shore until Daulac 
felt positive there were not less than two hundred of 
them. He was confident it was the same war-party 
that was on the way to attack the settlements, and he 
addressed a few stirring words to his companions, de- 
claring that the fate of the homes in New France was 
in their hands. 

The attack of the Iroquois was so stubbornly met 
that the latter fell back with considerable loss. No- 
thing daunted by this they prepared for a second at- 
tack, changing their tactics somewhat this time. First 
breaking up the canoes of the besieged allies, they 
ignited the pieces of bark, and carrying these blazing 
torches over their heads hoped to get near enough to 



Spartans of Canada 129 

set on fire the palisades. But they were met by such a 
hot fire from the weapons of the brave men within the 
fort that the survivors were forced to retreat in wild 
disorder. 

At this juncture, a Seneca chief, who had won great 
glory in a former campaign for his bravery and cun- 
ning, assumed command. It seemed certain that in a 
short time, inspired by his heroic daring, they would 
enter the fort in spite of the furious firing of the occu- 
pants. This chief had indeed almost reached the pali- 
sades, when Daulac sent a bullet through his brain. 
Upon seeing him fall the others again retreated into 
the forest, where they held a short consultation. 

It proved that this party had been on its way to join 
another and larger body, and together they were plan- 
ning to sweep every French colonist off the banks of 
the St. Lawrence, from Montreal to Quebec. The 
council quickly concluded that it would be wisest to 
send for this large party to come to their assistance as 
soon as possible. In the meantime it was decided to 
erect a fort for themselves close by, keeping up the 
appearance of a siege by an occasional attack. 

While this was taking place three of the young fol- 
lowers of Daulac determined to bring in the head of the 
Seneca chief, as an act of defiance to their foes. Dau- 
lac not objecting, they set forth upon their daring mis- 
sion, their companions standing at the loopholes ready 
to shoot down the first Iroquois that ventured within 

reach of their bullets. The deed was accomplished 
9 



130 The St. Lawrence River 

without loss of life on their part, and a few minutes later 
the head of the chief was placed upon the top of a pole 
close by the palisades. This aroused the Iroquois to an- 
other attack, which proved as fruitless to them as ever. 

Between the intervals of the attacks of the Iroquois, 
while they were building their fort, the French and 
their allies improved the opportunity to repair and 
strengthen their fortifications. Small trees were cut to 
form a second line of palisades, the space between the 
rows filled in with earth to the height of a man. Five 
loopholes were left on each side of the defence, each 
sufficient to accommodate three men, so at least sixty 
men could be employed at one time. 

By this time the besieged party had been called 
upon to meet enemies more to be dreaded than even 
the fiery Iroquois. These were hunger, thirst, cold, and 
the loss of sleep. There was no water to be had with- 
in the inclosure of the palisades, and the only kind of 
food they had was the dry hominy. Once half a dozen 
ventured forth, and succeeded in getting a small quan- 
tity of water, but this could not be repeated. Then 
they began to dig for it, succeeding in getting a limited 
supply of muddy water, but in spite of all they could do 
their sufferings soon became intense. This fact, with 
the certainty that sooner or later all must fall into the 
hands of the Iroquois, caused the Hurons to desert, one 
after another, until only their chief, the brave Etienne 
Annahotaha, with the four Algonquins, remained with 
the little band of French. 



Spartans of Canada 131 

Then came the fateful day, nearly a week after the 
Iroquois had settled down to what seemed the slow pro- 
cess of starving out the besieged men, when the war- 
whoops of five hundred warriors, hastening to the aid 
of their brothers-in-arms, came wildly up through the 
forest, drowning the steady roar of Long Sault. The 
cheers of the besiegers answered in exultant tones, while 
the beleaguered ones felt that their last hope was gone. 

Soon the siege was resumed in deadly earnest, and 
for three days and three nights the Iroquois kept up an 
irregular assault, trying in vain to get inside the walls 
of earth defended by the twenty brave spirits resolved 
to fight and die if need be, but to surrender, never ! 
The more fearful of the besiegers would now fain give 
up the siege, declaring the French were protected by 
the Great Spirit. Others looked fiercely upon the Hu- 
ron deserters, as if they would wreak their vengeance 
upon them. These, knowing their own lives lay in 
overcoming the French, boldly taunted them of lacking 
courage. Thereupon a daring chief proposed a scheme 
by which it could be found just who had the courage to 
continue the attack. This was to be done by tying to- 
gether as many bundles of small sticks as there were 
warriors, and let each one choose if he would pick up 
one of these or not. Put thus to the test, fearing to be 
branded cowards if they did not, nearly all of the Iro- 
quois and all of the Hurons caught up his bundle of 
sticks with guttural exclamations of defiance. All talk 
of desisting from the attack ended here. 



i3 2 The St. Lawrence River 

Resolved now to destroy the party within the fort 
at any cost, a council was held to decide how it was best 
to cope with so desperate an enemy. Thereupon one 
of the Iroquois suggested that they make large wooden 
shields out of small trees fastened together, behind which 
it might be possible to reach the fort and overwhelm its 
defenders. This plan was accepted without debate, and 
preparations began at once to carry it forward. All 
joining willingly in the work, it required only a short 
time to fell the small trees and cut their trunks into 
suitable lengths. These pieces were then lashed to- 
gether with withes, and the rude defences were ready 
for use. 

Volunteers, eager to distinguish themselves in the 
fray, were not lacking to lead the charge, while behind 
those who carried the shields followed the main body 
of the Iroquois. In this way, without firing a shot, the 
dusky legion approached the palisades, waiting eagerly 
for the opportunity to begin their work of annihilation. 

In the meantime a more anxious council had been 
held by the little group of heroic defenders of the fort. 
Daulac called each man by name, offering him the 
opportunity to surrender if he chose ; but not one, 
even to the four Algonquins and the Huron chief, hesi- 
tated in his decision to remain. In fact, they knew only 
too well the dread alternative, and a speedy death was 
preferable to the slower torture that awaited them if 
they fell into the hands of the enemy alive. 

Watching the movements of the Iroquois from the 



Spartans of Canada 133 

loopholes they anticipated their intentions and under- 
stood the form their next attack would take. Their 
only hope now lay in the musketoons, which they had 
not used before on account of the greater amount of 
powder they required. Now they only wished they had 
four instead of two, so as to be able to protect every 
side at once. However, these were planted to do the 
most effective work, and the approach of the Indians 
anxiously awaited. 

Realising that the end was near, each brave defender 
of New France stood at his post impatiently waiting for 
the opening of the battle that was to become the clos- 
ing act in the tragedy of border warfare. Daulac spoke 
a few words of encouragement, and then turned to see 
that the musketoon on that quarter was discharged at 
the proper moment to do the most mischief. 

It proved, indeed, a sort of mischief that for a brief 
time threatened to demoralise the Iroquois. As the 
double reports rang out simultaneously, many of the 
shield-bearers fell, and for a time the wooden walls 
proved but poor protection to those exposed by their 
fall. Daulac lost no time in having the guns reloaded, 
and had there been two more it would have been very 
uncertain if the Iroquois, notwithstanding their over- 
whelming numbers, would have succeeded in their 
purpose. 

As it was, two sides were left unprotected by these 
large firearms, and the advance of the enemies was 
unchecked. The brave Huron, Etienne, was on one of 



134 The St. Lawrence River 

these more exposed positions, and the moment the 
Iroquois had got near enough to throw down their 
shields and begin to hack at the palisades with their 
hatchets, he sprang into the fray hand-to-hand. He 
was closely followed by others. No quarter was asked 
or expected. The faithful Huron soon went down with 
more than a dozen wounds, and his body was quickly 
covered by two of the Algonquins, while the French 
died like the heroes they had proved themselves to be. 

Finding that their enemies were breaking through 
the wooden wall at his rear, Daulac, having literally 
filled to the muzzle one of the musketoons with powder 
and shot, lighted the fuse, and tried to throw it over 
the palisades into the midst of the assailants. But it 
was not lifted high enough to clear the top, and falling 
back into the inclosure it burst as it struck the ground. 
Several of the defenders were killed or injured by this 
explosion, but the others, resorting now to knives and 
axes, continued to hew down the Iroquois as fast as 
they showed themselves at the rents they had made in 
the walls. It had been their orders not to kill any one 
if possible, but to save all for the torture. But, seeing 
so many of their numbers slain by these indomitable 
men, and fearing they would escape after all, the com- 
mand was given to fire upon them. 

Daulac was killed by this volley, though not till he 
had encircled himself with victims. Of his brave com- 
panions only three survived this deadly discharge of 
bullets, and these were more dead than alive when 



Spartans of Canada 135 

seized by the fiendish captors, maddened by the fact 
that they obtained no more captives. In this disappoint- 
ment they turned upon the unfortunate Hurons, who 
had deserted the French to fight with them, and more 
than half of their number were put to death along with 
the three survivors of the garrison. Of the balance of 
the Hurons, five escaped soon after to carry to Mon- 
treal the tragic story of the fate of Daulac and his heroic 
band. The fate of the other Hurons is unknown. 

The Iroquois had suffered so severely at the hands 
of the heroes of Long Sault, and probably thinking that 
it would be folly to carry on their warfare with a race 
of whom they judged Daulac and his men to be repre- 
sentatives, they abandoned all further attacks for that 
season. Thus the heroic sacrifice of these brave soldiers 
of New France had not been made in vain, and for a 
long time their praises were sung by the thankful 
colonists. 



Chapter XI 
The Heroic Period 

La Salle and his Associates — Talon, the First Intendant — Frontenac — The 
Great Council with the Iroquois— Laval Restored to the Episcopate — Maids 
of Quebec — First Ship upon Lake Erie — Fate of La Salle — Frontenac 
Recalled— Treachery of Denonville — Massacre at La Chine — Return of 
Frontenac — His "Winter Raids" — Phips's Expedition — Death of Frontenac. 

WITH the exit of Champlain from the stage 
the curtain falls upon the second act in the 
drama of exploration and colonisation in 
the valley of the St. Lawrence. When it lifts again it 
rises over what has not inappropriately been styled 
"the heroic period." The mantle of the explorer falls 
upon Marquette, who founded, in April, 1668, the first 
mission in Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie, and w r ho reached 
the Mississippi in the summer of 1673, an d died on the 
bank of the little river that bears his name in 1675; 
Joliet, his companion ; Hennepin, who explored the up- 
per portion of the Mississippi River; and, greater than 
either, La Salle, and his faithful friend of the " silver 
hand," Tonty ; an illustrious group who blazed the path 
westward for the coming power which was destined to 
be antagonistic to their own. Of these the checkered 
fortunes of La Salle will have the most to do with our 
work. 

136 




MONSEIGNEUR LAVAL, FIRST CANADIAN BISHOP. 



The Heroic Period 137 

In 1 66 1 a change came over the political and com- 
mercial situation in the St. Lawrence valley. Colbert, 
a clear-headed, fearless financier was chosen by the King 
to be comptroller of finance and minister of marine. 
That veteran of two wars, Baron Dubois d'Avaugor, 
became governor of New France. He immediately saw 
the possibilities of the country, and declared that the 
St. Lawrence was the portal to "the grandest empire 
on earth." At this time (1663) its population, scattered 
among isolated posts, numbered 2500, one-third of 
whom lived in Quebec. 

The Hundred Associates throwing up their charter, 
a special council was created by the King to control 
affairs in Canada, with Quebec its capital. May 24, 
1664, under the inspiration of Colbert, the Company of 
the West was organised, and given the dominion of 
commerce for the entire territory of New France. This 
brought murmuring from the people, and to quiet them 
the company allowed the trade of the Upper St. Law- 
rence to redound to their profit, but retained the lower 
and richer section. 

Louis XIV., surnamed the Great, was then in the 
midst of his dazzling career, calling about him some of 
the ablest men of his time, and making his power in his 
own kingdom so absolute as to be able to say, without 
fear of contradiction, Litat cest moi [" I am the state "]. 
He sent to New France some of the ablest men she 
had. Among these came Daniel de Remy, Sieur de 
Courcelles, who became governor, and Jean Baptiste 



138 The St. Lawrence River 

Talon, the first Intendant, an office associated in power 
with the first. These men were thoroughly imbued 
with the royal spirit of Louis. 

In order to help put down the Iroquois raids twelve 
hundred veteran soldiers of the Turkish campaign and 
in other wars were sent over. What was of equal im- 
portance, two thousand immigrants came to swell the 
population. With the strong, righteous arm of Talon to 
fight for them, coupled with the energetic military skill 
of Courcelles, it looked as if the drooping lilies of France 
were to be lifted into brighter prospects than ever up 
and down the great river. It was then the English ob- 
tained possession of New Netherlands, and began to 
move up the valley of that other river, the Hudson, in 
a way the rival of the St. Lawrence. Charles II. was 
entering upon his stormy reign in England, and New 
England, as well as her sister colony in the north, was 
beginning to feel the iron heel of kingly despotism ; only 
in her case the master was not as worthy of his subjects. 

Talon urged the necessity of establishing posts far- 
ther south, and Courcelles invaded the Mohawk coun- 
try, lost his way, found village after village deserted, 
and was glad to get out of the wilderness. He was 
followed by an expedition under the lieutenant-general 
Marquis de Tracy, who led the largest force, thirteen 
hundred men, ever seen until then in the Mohawk 
country, and with competent guides, which his pre- 
decessor had lacked, he devastated town after town 
of the Mohawks. The succeeding spring the humbled 




£ s 



^aS^: 



The Heroic Period 139 

red men for the first time sued for peace. Then fol- 
lowed twenty years in the St. Lawrence valley of free- 
dom from the war-whoop. The population increased 
rapidly, and in 1670 there were 6000 inhabitants. 

The colonists pushed out into the wilderness with 
good courage. Canada began to look like a land of 
homes. But, at the same time, the coureurs de bois re- 
ceived a wider license of freedom than ever, the most 
serious menace civilisation knew. Now, too, the explo- 
rers cross the border line : Marquette, Joliet, Hennepin, 
Duluth, rise like the sun, and like the sun disappear in 
the unknown West. 

The astute Talon reserved his favours for another 
adventurer, who in many respects was to outstrip his 
rivals. His name was Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de 
la Salle, who was born in 1644 and appeared in Montreal 
in his 23rd year. His enthusiastic spirit prompted him 
to begin work at once. The first result was a palisaded 
town above the rapids, built as a station for the fur- 
trade. But his restless energy would not allow him a 
long period of clearing the wilderness here, and upon 
the 6th of July, 1669, we find him sailing up the St. 
Lawrence in quest of China. Somewhat derisively the 
name of La Chine was given to the estate he left when 
starting upon this chimerical expedition. 

Breaking down under the strain upon him, Cour- 
celles asked to be relieved of his position, and his suc- 
cessor appeared upon the scene in 1672. Strong as 
had been the men who had gone before him, the new 



140 The St Lawrence River 

governor-general was one to rise head and shoulders 
above them. His was a character not pleasant to ana- 
lyse ; not always friendly to his King, to his fellow-man, 
to himself. But in spite of the vices of his age and asso- 
ciates, in defiance of his imperious temper, his will that 
brooked no opposition, his reputation not the best for 
honesty, his home life not free from scandal, his intem- 
perate habits, his indifference to religious teachings 
according to the tenets of the Jesuits and Sulpicians, 
his was a rugged, progressive, untrammelled nature. 
One word expresses the name by which he is best 
known, Frontenac, but he was really Louis de Baude, 
Comte de Palluau et de Frontenac. He has been 
styled the " Saviour of New France." If this honour 
belongs to him it was because the country needed such 
an iron will and resolute arm to stem the turgid current 
of its political and commercial St. Lawrence. 

Among the first things that the new governor did 
was to strike at the feudal rights so dear to the King of 
France, and which Talon and his associates had been 
careful to foster, not caring to try the temper of Louis. 
Frontenac called about him the leading spirits of the 
colony, and planned to establish a structure of the 
States somewhat similar to the Estates General once 
popular in France, but thrust aside by the reigning 
monarch. For this he was rebuked by the King, who 
had no intention of allowing any semblance of power 
to spring up that should in the least interfere with his 
absolutism, and New France lost her only opportunity 



The Heroic Period 14 1 

for freedom. This, coming from one who seemed little 
short of a dictator himself, was something of a surprise. 

Again Frontenac looked about him, and saw wrongs 
that needed righting in the system of trade, and 
straightway he had the bushrangers arrayed against 
him. Nor did it stop here. Perrot, the governor, fa- 
voured the class, as they had favoured him. Immedi- 
ately this aggrieved official started for France, to lay his 
troubles before the King. La Salle also went, with a 
recommendation from Frontenac for kingly assistance 
in opening up the west. The Sulpicians were now up 
in arms against the governor-general, who bent his will 
to no man. The Jesuits, while not openly denounc- 
ing him, placed every obstacle possible in his path. 

While encouraging exploration, and La Salle above 
all other explorers, Frontenac had deemed it advisable 
to establish a post upon the shore of Lake Ontario, 
farther up on the St. Lawrence than had yet been done. 
In order to carry out this purpose to his satisfaction he 
planned an expedition to be headed by himself, and also 
sent La Salle ahead to invite the Iroquois to be present 
at a council. Leaving Quebec June 3, 1673, he sailed 
up the St. Lawrence, stopping at Montreal, where his 
forces were considerably increased. He left this place 
on the 28th, with 400 men, 120 canoes, and two flat- 
boats. This imposing flotilla, with its brightly painted 
bateaux and long train of birch barques, all moving to 
strains of martial music, and decked with the striking 
and mysterious devices of a people coming as strangers 



142 The St. Lawrence River 

into a strange land, must have created a thrilling awe 
in the breasts of the dusky lookouts of those island 
retreats. In the foremost boat the stately figure of 
Frontenac was the most conspicuous object, his gold- 
laced uniform looking exceedingly bright, considering 
the long and toilsome journey he had made against the 
current of the mighty river, and in face of the perils of 
the wilderness. 

Moving upon the scene with holiday pomp and 
gaiety, the new-comers disembarked at Cataraqui, near 
where now stands the city of Kingston, on the 12th of 
July. The engineer, Raudin, was set to work laying 
out a fort, and La Salle was placed in command. The 
Iroquois were promptly on hand, and the most import- 
ant council which had ever been held with these war- 
riors followed, these astute sons of the war trail finding 
the new commander of a different stamp to treat with 
than they had met before. He both flattered and threat- 
ened them, and they went away deeply impressed with 
his presence. 

The result of La Salle's visit to France was, in part, a 
grant to him of the fort at Cataraqui, with the adjoining 
territory. Upon the same vessel that brought him back 
were Hennepin, the Recollet friar, who was to become 
noted for his western explorations ; Laval, restored to 
the episcopate of Quebec, and Duchesnau, the successor 
of Talon, who had been unable to get along with Fronte- 
nac. The times must have been prolific of independent 
spirits, for it is seldom four were ever brought together 



The Heroic Period 143 

who were so strong-minded each in his own peculiar 
field of work. 

Upon this ship came also another element quite as 
disturbing to the decorum of the company as either, on 
account of their merry ways rather than from any ma- 
licious disposition. This was a bevy of pretty maids 
sent over by the King to become the wives of needy 
settlers. From the beginning in New France there had 
been a scarcity of women, and Talon, in his endeavour 
to increase the number of settlers, called especially for 
young ladies to save the country from a matrimonial 
famine. In 1665 one hundred girls arrived in Quebec, 
and were quickly supplied with husbands. The follow- 
ing year twice as many came, and still the demand was 
not met. Another company of over a hundred came in 
1667, and from year to year this practice was kept up. 
Many of these girls were selected from good families 
at home and were intended to supply the seigneurs, and 
thus from the beginning were built up two classes in 
Canada, the noblesse and the habitants ; the first holding 
the lands of the King, and the others cultivating it upon 
leases. Upon being separated into the class where the 
candidates for matrimonial honours belonged, those who 
desired a wife stated their wishes to a person in charge, 
usually a woman, gave proof as to his possessions and 
ability to support a home, when he was at liberty to 
select one most to his fancy from the class in which he 
had a right to look. The maids, on their part, were 
given the privilege to reject any man that might not 



1 44 The St. Lawrence River 

appear congenial, when he would be obliged to try- 
again. The choice being mutual, the couple sought a 
priest and notary, and were speedily united for better 
or worse, and there is no record to show that these im- 
promptu marriages did not prove as satisfactory as 
weddings made with greater leisure. 

In 1676, encouraged by Frontenac and the peace of 
the country, at the time when the New England colo- 
nists were in the midst of King Philip's War, La Salle 
rebuilt in masonry the walls to Fort Frontenac, as Cata- 
raqui had been renamed, strengthened the palisades, 
laid the keel of a ship, and brought cattle from Mon- 
treal. The settlement grew under his fostering care, and 
another year he had three vessels plying upon the lake, 
whose profit to him amounted to 25,000 livres a year. 

Still he saw through his ambition a vision of the 
Mississippi for ever rolling into the mysterious west. 
So he went to France in 1678 to obtain permission to 
extend commerce in that direction. He secured from 
the King, who never seemed to refuse help to the strug- 
gling colony, a patent which empowered him to go on 
with his work. What was of almost equal importance 
to him, he secured the friendship and companionship of 
a remarkable man, who was never to falter in his behalf 
through the trying scenes to follow. This was Henry 
Tonty, the son of Lorenzo Tonti, the Italian refugee, 
whose name is connected with the Tontine system of in- 
surance. La Salle and Tonty came with a good force 
of mechanics and shipbuilders to help along their plans. 



The Heroic Period 145 

We next see them upon Lake Erie, building the 
first vessel ever sailed upon this inland sea, which he 
named the Griffin for the fabulous monster, half 
bird, half beast, dwelling in the Rhipsean Mountains 
and guarding the treasures of the Hyperborean regions. 
Completed in May, this little vessel, with an armanent 
of five guns, proudly left her rude dock in August, her 
crew singing Te Deum, as she unfurled her canvas to 
the virgin breeze. With the prospect gradually unfold- 
ing to him like a vision seen in a dream, as he sailed 
away in the eye of the westering sun, that was probably 
the happiest moment of La Salle's checkered life. Out 
of Erie into Huron, by the river between, flew the trium- 
phant Griffin, looking indeed like a veritable bird to the 
wondering eyes that saw her from the distance. A stop 
was made at the mission of Ignace at Michilimackinac, 
where the hero in his gold-laced uniform and air of 
a conqueror attended divine worship, to kneel with be- 
coming grace among the humble and dusky followers 
of the cross. 

La Salle learned here that some of the men he had 
sent to trade with the Indians had deserted him and be- 
come traders on their own account — coureurs de bois. 
Others were only lukewarm in his interest, and he felt 
that his presence was none too welcome. He arrested 
a few of the unfaithful, and sent scouts to look after 
those abroad. Then he broke faith with his patrons by 
securing at Green Bay, from the Ottawas, a cargo of 
pelts, though his commission stated that he should not 



146 The St. Lawrence River 

do this. His excuse to himself, if his conscience called 
for an explanation, must have been that he had got to 
do something of the kind to satisfy his creditors, for he 
had been obliged to depend largely upon borrowed capi- 
tal in order to carry on his undertaking. 

On September 18th, her ill-gotten cargo stowed 
away, the Griffin sailed upon her return trip under the 
charge of a captain, pilot, and three men. That was 
the last La Salle ever saw or heard of his ship. It was 
rumoured she was lost in a storm, and all on board 
perished. It was whispered that her pilot had run her 
aground upon the nearest point of land, and with his 
associates undertook to get away with the cargo, only 
to fall into the hands of hostile Indians who put them 
to death. Which was correct the owner never knew, 
and to this day no one has become wiser than he. 

Upon parting with his ship laden with its goods, 
flattering himself that his creditors would be pleased, 
La Salle then entered upon a career whose account 
reads like a pathetic romance. He passed up Lake 
Michigan ; he built a fort upon the St. Joseph, now the 
Illinois, River ; with his dream of exploring the Missis- 
sippi still uppermost in his mind, he laid the keel here 
for another vessel ; not overpleased with his stern ways, 
some of his best carpenters deserted him ; haunted by 
the dread of some mishap having befallen the Griffin, 
he left his station, which he had named Fort Crivecoeur, 
in remembrance of a fort by that name in Netherlands, 
under the command of Tonty, and started for Ontario 



The Heroic Period 147 

across the peninsula of Michigan, where he and his 

companions 

encountered perils enough to make the stoutest heart quail. . . . 
They waded through drowned lands. They were obliged to thaw 
their stiffened clothes in the morning before they could move. 
Where they found a path in the opening they burned the grass to 
destroy their trail, for warring savages invested the country, little 
discriminating as regarded their human prey. 

La Salle reached the shipyard where the Griffin 
had been built, to learn to a certainty that the vessel 
had been lost. To his further disappointment, he was 
told that a vessel he had expected to come to Niagara 
with supplies had been wrecked on the St. Lawrence. 
To complicate matters still more, a report had been 
circulated by his enemies that he was dead, and under 
this pretence his property had been sold under the 
hammer, and his agents had taken the profits. Fortu- 
nately, he had the robust friendship of Frontenac left 
him. This enabled him to resume his tortuous path 
of exploration, not the least of his dangers being the 
jealousies and discouragements of rivals, each anxious 
to get the credit of what was being done. This chap- 
ter of discovery and adventure, in which the names of 
La Salle, Tonty, Marquette, Hennepin, Duluth, and 
others are associated, is filled with records of hardships 
and sufferings, the rewards to the individuals small for 
the sacrifices they underwent. Out of this stormy con- 
quest came a union of the St. Lawrence with the Mis- 
sissippi, and by these great rivers was the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence linked to the Gulf of Mexico. 



148 The St. Lawrence River 

La Salle perished miserably at the hands of a rene- 
gade follower in the midst of his explorations, a victim, 
perhaps, to his own arrogance. No character among 
the early voyagers and discoverers has been more vari- 
ously estimated than his. He was certainly not with- 
out his faults, the greatest of which seemed to be his 
inability to make many friends and never to placate an 
enemy. He did not a little for the development of the 
St. Lawrence valley, and he deserved all the praise his 
memory will ever get. 

In the meantime, a storm had set in at Quebec, 
which threatened the ruin of the colony. Frontenac 
and the Intendant were at sword's point over matters 
trivial and serious. Laval, the bishop, and the Jesuits 
combined against the former ; the Recollet friars and 
the merchant stoutly maintained that he was right. So 
fast and furious did this war wage that both were re- 
called. Unfortunately, this was done in the midst of an 
uprising on the part of the Iroquois, who had been en- 
couraged to open hostilities again by the Governor of 
New York, Colonel Dongan. The blow was not aimed 
directly at the inhabitants of the St. Lawrence valley, 
but against the Indians of the Illinois River. Fronte- 
nac had warned them to take their hands off of this 
tribe occupying a country he, through La Salle, was 
trying to open up. They replied insolently at first, but, 
not daring to try the bluff old soldier too far, finally 
came to Montreal to treat with him. Now La Barre, 
an old man sent to do a young man's work, succeeded 




CHEVALIER DE LA SALLE. 



The Heroic Period 149 

Frontenac. He made a sad mess of the warring ele- 
ments. He evaded, he fought, he implored, he betrayed 
his allies on the one hand and feebly pleaded for them 
on the other, until, had not the Iroquois been too far- 
seeing to carry out such a scheme, there is little doubt 
but the last Frenchman in the St. Lawrence country 
would have bade a long farewell to its scenes. The 
saving grace for La Barre was the fact that the politic 
Iroquois leaders could realise that with the removal of 
the French from the field of action they would have a 
power more to be dreaded in the English. For this 
reason they suffered them to remain and harass the 
others. 

Then La Barre was recalled and one Denonville 
sent in his place. James II. was on the throne of 
England, and between him and Louis XIV. existed 
amicable relations. The two fixed up terms of peace 
between their possessions in America, without either 
entering into the full depth of the problem. This was 
nothing less than the settlement of the mastery of the 
west. Dongan's first move was to capture the trade of 
the St. Lawrence for the Hudson. To obtain this, he 
sent his men far into the north, where never an English- 
man had gone before. His next aim was exactly what 
the French had been trying to do by the English ; that 
is, confine them to the smallest extent of territory pos- 
sible. Dongan was favoured in this part of his scheme 
from the fact of the raids on Acadie by the New Eng- 
enders. Denonville, in his eagerness to carry out the 



150 The St. Lawrence River 

policy of his predecessors, Talon, La Salle, Frontenac, 
ignored the treaty of peace made by his King, and sent 
troops to rout the posts established by the English in 
the Hudson Bay region. Then both he and Dongan 
decided it was for their interest to maintain a fort at 
Niagara, the best man to win the race. The site con- 
sidered most desirable was held by the Senecas. They 
were not an easy occupant to placate, either by the 
wiles of peace or by the arts of war. But Denonville 
considered himself equal to the task, and he set himself 
about it in a manner which has blackened his name with 
infamy. 

In 1687 he gathered his armed forces and moved up 
the St. Lawrence to Fort Frontenac, where he invited 
some of the Seneca chiefs to a council. Innocent of the 
treachery of their host these came, were seized by sur- 
prise and sent to France, where they were punished as 
slaves in the King's galleys. He then pillaged the vil- 
lages of some neutral Iroquois, who were living quietly 
and peacefully near by. These shared the fate of poor 
slaves, though it was claimed the evil of the deed had 
been mitigated by converting the captive women and 
children to Christianity. Losing no time lest the news 
might spread, Denonville moved swiftly over the lake, 
and, reinforced by friendly Indians from Michilimack- 
inac, he hurled his allied forces upon the surprised Sen- 
ecas. A short and terrific resistance was made, but the 
end was inevitable. The towns of the Indians were laid 
in ruins, their stores of grain were confiscated, and their 



The Heroic Period 15 1 

herds of swine seized. The survivors of that terrible day 
came forth from their concealment in the forests, when 
the enemies had left, broken in spirit and desolate. 

Denonville had now a clear way to build his fort at 
Niagara, which he proceeded to do, and then armed it 
with one hundred men. If triumphant in his bold plans, 
he had to learn that the viper crushed might rise to 
sting. The Senecas had their avengers. Maddened by 
the cowardly onset of Denonville and his followers, the 
Iroquois to a man rose against the French. This was 
not done by any organised raid, but, shod with silence, 
small, eager war-parties haunted the forests of the St. 
Lawrence, striking where they were the least expected, 
and never failing to leave behind them the smoke of 
burning dwellings and the horrors of desolated lives. 
From Fort Frontenac to Tadousac there was not a 
home exempt from this deadly scourge ; not a life that 
was not threatened. Unable to cope with so artful a 
foe, Denonville was in despair. He sued for peace, but 
to obtain this he had got to betray his allies, the Indians 
of the Upper Lakes, who had entered his service under 
the condition that the war should continue until the 
Iroquois were exterminated. The latter sent delegates 
to confer with the French commander at Montreal. 
While this conference was under way, a Huron chief 
showed that he was the equal of even Denonville in the 
strategies of war where the code of honour was a dead 
letter. 

Anticipating the fate in store for his race did the 



152 The St. Lawrence River 

French carry out their scheme of self-defence, this chief 
whose name was Kandironk, " the Rat," lay in ambush 
for the envoys on their way home from their confer- 
ence with Denonville, when the latter had made so 
many fair promises. These Kandironk captured, claim- 
ino- he did it under orders from Denonville, bore them 
to Michilimackinac, and tortured them as spies. This 
done, he sent an Iroquois captive to tell his people 
how fickle the French could be. Scarcely was this ac- 
complished when he gave to the French his exultant de- 
claration : " I have killed the peace ! " 

The words were prophetic. Nothing that Denonville 
could say or do cleared him of connection with the affair. 
His previous conduct was enough to condemn him. To 
avenge this act of deceit, as the Iroquois considered it, 
they rallied in great numbers, and on the night of Au- 
gust 4, 1689, dealt the most cruel and deadly blow given 
during all the years of warfare in the St. Lawrence valley. 
Fifteen hundred strong, under cover of the darkness 
they stole down upon the settlement of La Chine situ- 
ated at the upper end of the island of Montreal, and sur- 
prised the inhabitants while they slept in fancied security. 
More than two hundred men, women, and children were 
slain in cold blood, or borne away to fates a hundred 
times more terrible to meet than swift death. The day 
already breaking upon the terror-stricken colonists was 
the darkest Canada ever knew. 

In addition to these perils and horrors of Indian 
warfare, from which Quebec suffered her share, this 



The Heroic Period 153 

town was visited in the summer of 1682, on the 4th of 
August, by a fire that swept the Lower Town, leaving 
only one house standing, and licking up more than half 
the wealth of New France. 

Following the massacre of La Chine, Denonville 
awoke to the fact that instead of conquering the Eng- 
lish and exterminating the Indians, he had got to look 
to the protection of his own flock. Already it was 
rumoured that Major Andros, who had succeeded Don- 
gan in New York, was planning to conquer New France. 
James II. had been succeeded as King of England by 
William of Orange, who hated Louis, and war was 
declared between the two nations. 

Fortunately for New France Denonville was recalled. 
He had shown himself too weak to strike a blow against 
the enemy after the La Chine horror, as well as having 
proved that he was unable to follow up the advantage 
gained by La Salle and even then faithfully guarded by 
Tonty, Duluth, and Perrot. The one man needed at 
that lonely hour was Frontenac. His faults forgotten, 
he was prayed for by the Church and the people ; his 
sterling qualities remembered, he was sent by Louis to 
become the saviour of New France. 

It was near the middle of October, 1689, when the 
ship upon which the grizzled veteran, erect and vigorous 
in spite of his seventy years, was taken back to Quebec, 
sailed up the St. Lawrence and dropped anchor under 
the frowning walls. It was late in the evening, but his 
arrival had been anticipated, and the expectant citizens 



154 The St. Lawrence River 

had gathered upon the quay, lighting the scene with 
torches, while fireworks and thousands of coloured lights 
illuminated the streets of the Upper Town in honour of 
his coming. There was no murmuring Jesuit protesting 
against him ; no Intendant chafing at his iron rule ; but 
one and all gave the glad hand of welcome to the hero, 
and that night Quebec slept with a hopeful calmness she 
had not known for years. 

While deficient in both money and troops, Frontenac 
quickly infused new life into the hearts of his people. 
He restored the Iroquois chiefs, so basely captured by 
Denonville, to their subjects, and the Iroquois felt the 
powerful Onontio, as they called him, would not hesitate 
to deal with them as they had dealt with the French 
people. But Frontenac's first move was against the 
English in what has passed into history as his " three 
winter raids." Made up of regulars, coureurs de dots, 
and Indians, these war-parties started in the dead of 
winter from Montreal, Three Rivers, and Quebec. The 
first, by following the Richelieu valley, reached the 
Dutch settlement of Corlaer, now Schenectady, N. Y., 
which they desolated. The second passed up the valley 
of the St. Francis, through the deep snow and the " white 
swamps," to finally reach the settlement of Salmon Falls, 
on the border of New Hampshire, where the inhabitants 
were inhumanly butchered. This division then joined 
the company from Quebec, and moving against the vil- 
lages in Maine carried on the work of desolation, the 
Indians, breaking the pledges of the French made to 




FRONTENAC. 
From Hubert's Statue at Quebec. 



The Heroic Period 155 

those who surrendered, adding to the horrors by a 
shameless slaughter of captives. 

News of these successes coming to their ears, the 
Indians, who had faltered in their allegiance to the 
French, now came resolutely forward. Light hearts 
reigned in Quebec, while up and down the valley of the 
St. Lawrence bonfires were lighted in honour of the 
brighter prospects of New France. But if Frontenac 
had invested his followers with renewed courage, by 
this very act of blood and rapine he had aroused the 
New England inhabitants to such a feeling of indigna- 
tion that they became united in a struggle against 
Canada which did not cease until Quebec fell. 

Plans were laid for the capture of the towns on the 
St. Lawrence by the concerted efforts of the militia of 
New York against Montreal, and a naval expedition 
against Quebec commanded by Sir William Phips. 
The command of the former undertaking was intrusted 
to Fitz-John Winthrop, under a commission from Gov- 
ernor Leisler dated July 31, 1690. It proved a failure 
from the outset. Phips, an adventurer of checkered 
experience, with little military or naval skill, but withal 
considerable resource of tactics and a large reserve 
stock of bluff, in command of thirty-two vessels of 
various sizes, and a little over two thousand men, set 
forth upon his expedition with entire confidence in 
his ability to clear the rock of Quebec of every foe. 
To distract Frontenac's attention, Colonel Church was 
sent along the Atlantic coast with a land force. He at 



156 The St. Lawrence River 

least accomplished his purpose. Phips had been en- 
couraged by an easy capture of Port Royal a short time 
before with a smaller force, but he was to find a far 
different reception at Quebec. 

At the time, Frontenac was in Montreal dancing 
the war-dance with some Indians from Michilimackinac. 
News had just come to him of Colonel Winthrop's raid 
on La Prairie, all that came of New York's part in the 
"conquest of Canada," and he was planning a counter- 
attack for this assault when a messenger apprised him 
of the advance of an English fleet up the St. Lawrence. 
He returned to the capital with all haste possible. 
Since his arrival from France he had caused the weak- 
ened defences to be repaired. A call was made for the 
rallying of the Canadian militia, then scattered over 
the country. It was a lively day in Quebec, with her 
fortifications still incomplete, her guns in bad shape, 
her stock of ammunition low, her provisions scanty, her 
troops meagre in number, — but they had Frontenac ! 

The grim warrior showed no signs of trepidation. 
Ay, they do say he smiled when, on the morning of 
October 16th (1690), the English fleet was discovered 
coming up the river. For some reason Phips, usually 
so energetic, had dallied on his way, stopping nearly 
three weeks at Tadousac for no apparent reason, unless 
he wished to give his enemy so much time to carry 
on the work of preparation for him. If he lost courage 
at sight of the embattled heights he did not show it. 
Dropping anchor not far from where Kertk had done 



The Heroic Period 157 

the same upon the eve of his conquest, Phips coolly 
sent a demand for the surrender of the French strong- 
hold. This messenger, according to an order from 
Frontenac, was blindfolded and then led by a circuit- 
ous way to the great council hall in Chateau St. Louis, 
where the royal governor and his associates awaited 
him. Upon having the covering removed from his eyes, 
this officer must have been possessed of nerves of iron 
not to be, for a moment at least, dumfounded by the 
warlike group before him. 

He found himself standing before a tall, thin old man of com- 
manding presence, with a nose like an eagle's beak, who looked at 
him sternly out of a pair of fierce grey eyes, deep-set under great 
tufted brows — a weather-beaten, age-lined face, which, better than 
the upright figure and the easy grace of movement, bespoke years of 
campaigning on the field. It was Frontenac. 

Upon either hand of him were representatives of the 
noblesse of the colony, gay courtiers in brilliant dress, 
some young in years, but of noble families and destined 
to carve for themselves names of renown in the com- 
ing struggle of New France ; others already, like their 
leader, grown grey in the service of their King. To 
these men, but first to the white-haired governor in 
their centre, the young English officer delivered his 
audacious message. Frontenac's associates would have 
burst forth into indignant laughter, but their chief si- 
lenced them with a wave of his hand, which also con- 
veyed his answer to Phips, with the added explanation 
that the cannon would be his spokesman. So Phips's 



158 The St. Lawrence River 

boastful campaign ended in bluster. Possibly he might 
have succeeded had he followed the advice given him 
to lead his men up the same pathway where, a little less 
than three-fourths of a century later, Wolfe climbed to 
immortality, but the obstinate Englishman had a plan of 
his own that ended in disaster to his hopes. It was a 
forlorn fleet that straggled into Boston, the ships com- 
ing by twos and singly, such as did return ; for several, 
with those on board, were never heard from. New 
England must indeed recuperate her strength and re- 
plenish her treasury before she again thought of invad- 
ing New France. 

Proud indeed was the moment to Frontenac, when 
he watched the departing fleet disappearing around the 
point of the Isle of Orleans, though he was not fitted 
to attempt any further the conquest of the land of his 
rivals. He stood higher than ever in the estimation of 
his followers, and another good stroke of fortune lifted 
him yet higher in their esteem. This was his success in 
collecting and running down from the upper country a 
flotilla of canoes, numbering over a hundred, every one 
heavily laden with pelts, to gladden the hearts of the 
traders of Montreal. Nothing like that had been seen 
for years, and a festival of rejoicing was held, during 
which it is said the courtly governor, despite his more 
than seventy years, danced with his dusky voyageurs in 
their merry-making. 

If the war between the French and the English 
abated for a time, the great three-cornered fight was 



The Heroic Period 159 

not yet ended. The Iroquois were not vanquished 
from the vales of the Mohawk ; while in the east, the 
Abnakis were already duplicating their deeds against 
the French by leaving trails of blood between the New 
England homes. Everywhere in New France and 
New England the torch and the scalping-knife were 
held aloft, and both were crimson. The advantage, if 
it came to either, fell to the French. 

The fur-trade continued to yield a good income, and 
the people began to prosper as they had never pro- 
spered before. To ensure greater glory in this direc- 
tion, Frontenac planned a campaign against the English 
trading posts in the region of Hudson Bay. This ex- 
pedition was commanded by D' Iberville, who had been 
successful in crowding the English down to the sea- 
coast in the lower districts. He was so far successful 
in the north that Frontenac felt as if he had but one 
enemy more to overcome. This was the irrepressible 
Iroquois, though even these had not rallied as they had 
at the time of the La Chine massacre. He resolved 
to strike one more blow in that direction, and heavy 
enough to be his last. 

So, in 1696, in his seventy-sixth year, he assembled 
at Fort Frontenac over two thousand men, and, cross- 
ing the lake with a vast fleet of canoes, entered the Os- 
wego River. Following this stream to the falls, and 
transporting their boats by portage, the expedition, 
the largest invading force ever seen in that country, 
moved majestically up Lake Onondaga. Discovered by 



160 The St. Lawrence River 

Indian scouts, the news flew like wildfire through the 
encampment of the Iroquois, and, dismayed at the im- 
posing sight of such an enemy, the red men scattered 
throuo-h the woods, like rabbits driven from the brush. 
The French force, marching in military array, with 
drums beating and colours flying, advanced upon a pile 
of smouldering ruins, where a short time before had 
stood the proud village of the Long House. A few 
tardy Indians, hesitating in their flight, were captured 
and put to tortures that even their own skill could not 
have outdone. Fields of corn, orchards of apples, and 
patches of melons had been left undisturbed by the 
fugitives. These the French ravaged ; and despoiling 
village after village, though securing few prisoners, 
leaving only when he had completed a scene of desola- 
tion, Frontenac returned in triumph to the place of 
starting. At last the pride and power of the Five 
Nations had been humbled. Soon after, the Iroquois 
sued for peace. Then, September 20, 1697, followed 
the Treaty of Ryswick between the French and the 
English, which closed at last Frontenac's long series 
of campaigns. 

In truth, the illustrious career of the hero was itself 
drawing to a close. In his last campaign it had been 
necessary to carry him in a chair, though his eagle spirit 
had not been daunted. Now the iron will, unbending 
still, was broken by the touch of the eternal hand on 
the 28th of November, 1698, in his seventy-eighth year. 
Thus passed from the stage of action the strongest, 



The Heroic Period 161 

grandest figure since Champlain, and not to be equalled 
until the third of the great trio, Montcalm, should fall 
fighting for the glory of the grey old rock upon which 
the first had founded and the second had defended so 
nobly the honour of New France. 



Chapter XII 

Bushrangers and Voyageurs 

The Coureurs de Bois — A Unique Canadian Character — Their Dress and Habits — 
The Voyageurs — Rangers of Romance — Personal Appearance — Their Roving 
Natures — Rowing Songs — Story of Cadieux — His ' ' Lament " — Revelry at 
the Rendezvous — Homeward Bound. 

FREQUENT mention has been made in connec- 
tion with the fur-trade of a class that gave no 
little uneasiness both to the religious teachers 
and the Government. As the traffic in beaver pelts in- 
creased, this evil grew, until not only the morals but the 
very life of the colony was threatened. This element 
has since found its rival, though not its equal, in the 
sable hunters of Siberia. The nearest approach to it 
with the English has been the trappers of the Far West, 
who led the way for civilisation beyond the Rocky 
Mountains. As gold-seekers, instead of fur-seekers, it 
overran Australia for a period, and then vanished as 
mysteriously as it came, — as it finally disappeared from 
the Canadian wilds. 

I come now to speak at closer range, as it were, of 
that class of early immigrants to Canada which had the 
most to do with its acclaim and the least to do with its 
good. These were the coureurs de bois, or " runners of 

162 



Bushrangers and Voyageurs 163 

the woods." Coureurs de risques! "runners of risks," 
says the keen-witted Hontan. Unlike the pioneers of 
New England they were rovers of the wilderness, the 
fur-trade offering them a ready excuse for their wander- 
ings. But the actual spirit which led them far into the 
forest fastnesses was that restless nature ever urging 
them on to find solace for souls that neither compassed 
restfulness nor longings that were satisfied. This dar- 
ing of the solitude, voluntary isolation of homes, led the 
King in the middle of the seventeenth century to order 
the colonists, for their own safety, which meant the 
well-being of the colony, "to make no more clearings 
except one next to another, and to reduce their parishes 
so as to conform as much as possible to the parishes 
of France." 

In their lives alone Canada offers a great field for 
the romancer. With a swarthy face, his small head 
covered with a red woollen cap, made loose, or a head-gear 
made of the skin of the fox or the wolf, his lithe body 
clad in blanket-coats, girthed about the waist with stout 
leathern thongs, his lower limbs encased in deerskin 
leggins, fringed along the seams, and his feet thrust into 
moccasins ornamented with porcupine quills, the Cana- 
dian ranger looked what he was, the most picturesque 
character that came to the front in those adventurous 
times. In the course of his career he was wandering all 
over the great North-west. Without him New France 
must have remained a dream in the troubled sleep of 
the French; with him, she became a nightmare. 



1 64 The St. Lawrence River 

Following close upon the heels of the fortune-seeking 
fur-traders who pushed out into the wilderness along the 
St. Lawrence and its many tributaries, establishing their 
posts to carry on their rude commerce, came that class of 
adventurers styled the Canadian voyageurs, whose very 
name became synonymous of bravery and romance. By 
this term I am not understood to mean the first sailors 
and explorers who came to Canada, but rather their de- 
scendants, many of whom were half-breeds, all of whom 
were roving, care-free followers of the wilderness, noted 
for the skill with which they handled their birchen skiffs, 
and found wherever these could penetrate with their sharp 
prows the many streams abounding in a country richly 
endowed in this respect. Their temperament seems 
to have been the embodiment of the restless energy for 
conquest and intense longing for loneliness that per- 
vaded all of the earlier enterprises of New France. It 
was the controlling spirit of Cartier and his followers ; 
it was the guiding star of the coureur de dot's, setting 
only when the fleur-de-lis of France faded from the rock 
of Quebec ; it was the overruling power of the zeal- 
ous missionary, sending him far and wide into the sav- 
age wilderness ; it even entered into the foundation of 
the colonial homes, scattering them in a way that greatly 
enlarged the domains of New France. In Champlain 
we find a happy combination of the missionary and the 
voyageur, with a leavening of home love. 

There was possibly no phase of life in the break- 
ing of the American wilderness which afforded a 




a 



Bushrangers and Voyageurs 165 

larger meed of romance and adventure than that 
of the Canadian voyageur, in the days when the forest 
was pathless and the St. Lawrence bore on its broad 
bosom no larger craft than an occasional caravel from 
the Old World. Trained from early boyhood to the 
exciting work of propelling their crafts up and down 
the streams, now stemming some furious rapid, anon 
running the cataracts, at periods compelled to make a 
tedious portage where the waters ran too wild to risk 
the loss of their freight, apparently calling for more 
concern than their lives, they could not have been other 
than hardy, reckless, intrepid spirits, whose only relax- 
ation was to be found at the trading station, where too 
often their meagre earnings were spent in the jovial 
bowl. At these rendezvous the wine ran freely, so much 
the worse for them, as those were days of liberal drink- 
ing, when joviality reigned over the flowing bowl and 
under the spell of the goddess of song. Frequently 
they were of pure Iroquois or Huron blood ; more 
often they were a mixture of white and red parentage, 
often noticeable in the dark features of some Norman 
whose skin was given a deeper bronze by his mother, a 
dusky Indian maid. The majority of the voyageurs 
were of French extraction. 

The garb of this rover of the forest and river was in 
poetical harmony with his character and surround- 
ings. It consisted of a cotton shirt, generally striped 
in bright colours, cloth trousers, and leather leggins. 
The feet were encased in deerskin moccasins. Over the 



1 66 The St. Lawrence River 

shoulders rested lightly, each passing breeze lifting it 
in graceful imitation of the movement of the wearer, a 
capot or little cloak. His waist was girthed about with 
a wide worsted belt with flowing ends, from which were 
suspended a knife and tobacco pouch. This half-wild 
dress of the voyageztr was rendered more picturesque 
in case the owner was the favourite follower of some 
brigade leader, when he would have a long black or red 
feather attached to his close-fitting cap. 

In keeping with the supple figure of the man, his 
canoe was builded of wonderful lightness, considering 
that no sacrifice of the strength and lasting qualities 
that were necessary had been allowed. It was made of 
birch bark cut in sheets of suitable length, and selected 
by an experienced eye for its thinness and durability. 
The seams were pitched so as to be water-tight. One 
of these crafts, capable of carrying great weight, could be 
easily carried upon the shoulders of a single man. It 
passed the comprehension of the Indians that these 
new-comers could outdo them with generations of train- 
ing in this handicraft, and they believed the Frenchmen 
had been given special secrets by the Great Spirit. 

There were heavier canoes for transporting freight, 
and these were marvels of lightness, considering their 
ability to carry from three to four tons' burden. A 
crew usually consisted of a dozen men, who were capable 
of moving their boat along at a rapid rate of speed, 
notwithstanding its heavy freight. 

Nothing suited these rowers better than their period- 



Bushrangers and Voyageurs 167 

ical trips into the river-bound interior of an unexplored 
country, and yet, like sailors about to embark upon their 
long voyages, upon the eve of their departure upon a 
trip which might keep them away for months, they de- 
lighted to drown their anxieties in brimming bumpers of 
wine, until it often became necessary for their leaders to 
carefully keep them in ignorance of the actual day set 
for the journey. Otherwise, the day of their departure 
known, a generous feast was given by their friends and 
loved ones, when wives, children, and sweethearts gath- 
ered around them to bid their husky farewells and hope- 
ful "don voyage." 

No sooner was the ordeal of separation over than the 
wild natures of the crew asserted themselves, and while 
the cheers of those who remained behind rang on the 
air, serving to encourage them, each round growing 
fainter and more prolonged, the entire party would 
strike up a chanson de voyage, the volume of the song 
more than making up for its lack of melody. 

Not infrequently some old French song of tradi- 
tional love affair would be started by him at the steer- 
ing paddle, when his companions would quickly join in, 
until the welkin would ring with the melody of voices. 
These were usually selected with a remarkable fitness 
for the occasion and environment of the situation. Was 
the canoe gliding over some placid lake, where scarcely 
a breath of air moved the glassy surface of the water, 
the song was sure to move in harmony with the calm- 
ness of the tranquil scene. Should they be approaching a 



1 68 The St. Lawrence River 

waterfall, the foam upon the river was no surer indica- 
tion of the coming struggle with the elements than the 
quickening notes of the singer, the increased volume of 
the song, the growing impetuosity of the melody, ring- 
ing with the spirit of enthusiasm to do and dare what- 
ever lay in their pathway. Did the arms of the rower 
tire, or his spirits lag for a time, some gay song burning 
with new-born activity would revive the faltering energy. 
At all times the paddles kept time with the singers. 
Among the favourite songs was A la Claire Fontaine, 
whose opening stanza runs — 

A la claire fontaine, 
M'en allant promener, 
J'ai trouve l'eau si belle, 
Que je m'y suis baigne. 

A free translation in English makes this : 

Unto the crystal fountain, 

For pleasure did I stray ; 

So fair I found the waters, 

In them my limbs I lay. 
Another popular rowing song among the voyageurs 
was Dans les Prisons de Nantes, which, unlike most of 
the Canadian songs that could be traced back to an ori- 
gin in the old country, seems to have been composed by 
one of this hardy class. This goes on to describe in 
verses of more than ordinary merit how a soldier was 
captured and thrown into prison at Nantes to be freed 
by the gaoler's pretty daughter the eve before the day 
upon which he was to have been shot. There was still 



Bushrangers and Voyageurs 169 

another of these songs frequently sung, around which 
clung a pathetic story of heroism unto death. 

As far back as the days of Champlain an educated 
and adventurous Frenchman named Cadieux met, upon 
one of his trips into the wilderness in quest of furs, the 
beautiful daughter of a chief of the tribe of Indians 
living upon the upper Ottawa. Falling in love with 
this dusky belle of the wilds, he made her his wife, and 
built him a dwelling in that region within sight and 
sound of the river. For several years his cabin home 
was the rendezvous for voyageurs ranging the country 
in that direction, until the hospitality of this couple be- 
came widely known. But one day they were surprised 
by a band of hostile Iroquois just as they were launch- 
ing their canoes upon the rapid stream. Cut off from 
reaching their cabin, Cadieux shouted to his companion 
to keep on down the river while he went up-stream, 
expecting by this stratagem either to divide the force of 
their enemies or give his wife an easy way of escape by 
calling all the Iroquois after him. 

Confident of capturing both of them the latter gave 
pursuit in both directions, expecting to make quick 
work of overtaking the woman, as her light canoe was 
plunged into the boiling water where it did not seem 
possible to escape. But like a feather it was lifted from 
pool to pool, while in the mist that enveloped the es- 
caping spouse the Iroquois discerned a female figure 
beckoning her on. The fleeing Christian wife after- 
wards declared that she was guided to safety by " Bonne 



170 The St. Lawrence River 

Ste. Anne." At any rate the Iroquois abandoned their 
pursuit of her, and she succeeded in getting away with- 
out being harmed. Cadieux was less fortunate. After 
seeing his wife successfully shoot the rapids, having 
killed two of his enemies, and received himself a painful 
wound, the brave voyageur kept on up the river to a 
cave opening upon its bank. Crawling into this retreat 
he prepared to defend himself unto the end. So de- 
sperately did he do this, that his foes tried in vain for 
three days and nights to drive him out or reach him. 
But the end was near now. The pangs of hunger, his 
lack of sleep, his exhaustion from his unbroken vigilance, 
to say nothing of the weakness resulting from his wounds, 
all combined to warn him of his fate. Surrender he 
never would, and so deliberately planned to die of starv- 
ation; if he escaped death otherwise. In the intervals 
of his long and painful suspense, he composed his 
Lament de Cadieux, writing it down upon scraps of 
birch bark in his own blood. This was found beside 
his lifeless body, by his faithful wife, who sought to 
effect his rescue as soon as she could find succour, and 
its touching and beautiful strains became a favourite with 
the voyageurs as they drew near the foaming currents 
of the upper Ottawa, while on the St. Lawrence they 
were long popular and are still remembered, as well as 
the pathetic fate of their author. 

So these half-wild beings of woods and ''water, 
thoughtless of future perils, paddled industriously 
against the current of some rapid stream, carrying their 





1 



Iff 







Bushrangers and Voyageurs 171 

boats and freight around the rifts that were impassable, 
now making the welkin ring with the melody of their 
songs, anon gliding like shadows over some sheet of 
dark water, camping at the close forgetful of the dangers 
and hardship of their voyage, while they peopled the 
night with weird creatures of their fanciful tales told 
under the mystic spell of the pipe and the glowing 
embers. 

Wherever they went, and that was all over Canada, 
their track was marked at frequent intervals by wooden 
crosses, where some comrade, worn out with the ceaseless 
toil of his journey, or meeting a more untimely fate in 
the swirling eddies of some uncommonly dangerous rift, 
found his resting-place, 

Where the stalwart oak grew and lived 
Long ages and died among its kind. 

The voyageurs from each section of the St. Lawrence 
had their particular rendezvous where they found a 
hearty greeting at the end of their arduous journey. 
Those who went up the Saguenay found their destina- 
tion at the station of Roberval on the headwaters of 
that river, a place filled with tragic memories. The 
followers of the Ottawa from Montreal stopped at Fort 
Nicollet, later renamed Fort William. A large wooden 
building had been erected here to accommodate the 
voyageurs and coureurs de bois who met here to 
transfer their merchandise and barter news as well as 
trade. The great council hall, where the whites had 
been wont to meet the Indians in trying a debate, now 



172 The St. Lawrence River 

became the banquet-room and the scene of ungovernable 
revelry, when the passions of half-wild men were loosened 
by the brimming bowl and the merry songs. Especial 
effort was made to load the tables with the choicest 
viands from nature's storehouse of game. Among the 
daintiest morsels served at these banquets were buf- 
falos' tongues and beavers' tails. Then, the cargoes 
loaded and everything in readiness for departure, a final 
feast was given, a closing toast drunk, the last hand- 
shake over, our voyageurs start their canoes homeward, 
as they glide with the current of the river, singing some 
favourite song expressive of their freedom from cares : 

The river runs free, 

The west wind is clear, 

And my love is calling to me. 

There is a good wind, 

There is a free tide, 

And my love is waiting for me. 

Those who may feel that all this was close to an 
element of savagery should not forget that it is but a 
step backward from civilisation to barbarism. If it was 
a trait to be found in our ancestors that we believe we 
have not inherited, it was because they lived nearer to 
nature. But we have not escaped it if we would. In 
the rapidity and pleasure with which men delight to 
isolate themselves, break away from the shell of conven- 
tionality and wallow in the furrow of indolent imagery, 
we see ample proof of the truth of this. We see it 
typified in the hunter lured into the depths of the forest 
under the pretence of slaying some helpless victim, but 



Bushrangers and Voyageurs 173 

really governed by the irresistible impulse to be by him- 
self. There is evidence of it in the naturalist, in the 
mountaineer, in the friend who frequently breaks away 
from the social ties of life to roam the open fields, 
wander in the fastness of the forest, loneliness of the 
mountain, the sublimity of the seashore. It is not an 
indication of weakness. Rather it is the vital spark 
of humanity. So long as its embers last will there be 
hope for the race. 



Chapter XIII 
When Quebec Fell 

Situation under Frontenac's Successors — Infamous Conduct of Bigot and Others — 
Declaration of War, 1756 — Arrival of Montcalm — His Early Victories — 
Driven Back to Quebec — Wolfe and his Army Reach Isle of Orleans — Siege 
of Quebec — Wolfe's Famous Path to the Plains of Abraham — The Battle — 
Rout of the French — Wolfe and Montcalm Shot — Scenes that Followed. 

FRONTENAC left New France at the high-water 
mark of prosperity and power. Never before 
had its people been favoured with such rare 
good fortune ; and never would it enjoy such favours. 
The St. Lawrence bore upon its broad shield more 
ships of commerce than it had ever known, and every 
inland stream was the pathway of the hardy voyageur, 
en route with his cargo of furs. The population had 
increased; new towns had sprung up; and now the fickle 
goddess which had so long coquetted with " Our Lady 
of the Snow " seemed to surrender without reserve. 

Still there were many perplexing problems to be 
settled. Much as the trade of the St. Lawrence valley 
had increased, it was not yet sufficient to meet all its 
obligations without help from the mother-hand. The 
Iroquois were not yet fully subdued, and from time 
to time they raided the country, in small parties it is 
true, but none the less to be dreaded. It cost consider- 

174 



When Quebec Fell 1 75 

able to maintain the friendship of the Abnakis in the 
east. The English were drawing from them their trade 
by the way of the Kennebec, Hudson, Ohio, and the 
Mississippi. The cabins of English pioneers, as well as 
the huts of their traders, were springing up where least 
expected. In order to protect the valley of the west 
it was necessary to draw from the valley of the St. 
Lawrence. 

The population at this time of New France did not 
reach higher than thirty thousand souls. Besides these 
there were not less than five thousand soldiers in the 
country, comprising some of the best-drilled regiments 
in the world. To strengthen the military force were the 
country militia, which consisted of every male citizen 
able to bear arms, while there was not a seigneur of the 
villages and fortress-like chateaux that was not capable of 
leading these men in war. Added to all of these were 
the scattered bands of savages, trained by the Jesuits, 
themselves imbued with a martial spirit scarcely inferior 
to their religious enthusiasm. These were powerful 
allies in the sanguinary struggle waged so long. In point 
of military ability New France was far superior to her rival. 

But the worst enemies this fair empire knew were 
those within the fold. If England was accustomed, now 
and then, to steal a plum from the pudding of her colo- 
nists, France was ready to take the pudding. Few of 
the many who were intrusted with the guardianship of 
this fair ward of the St. Lawrence were faithful to their 
charge ; to the pity of the child ; to the shame of the 



176 The St. Lawrence River 

mother. And each despoiler, regardless of the suffer- 
ings he had inflicted, turned from his victim with the 
disdain of the libertine, spurning the virtue he had 
violated. But the day of reckoning was not so far 
removed. 

Frontenac was succeeded by Vaudreuil, under whose 
long rule the cultivation of flax and hemp and the home 
manufacture of clothing was encouraged. Greater 
attention was paid to the fisheries, and shipbuilding 
flourished. Considerable trade with the West Indies 
was opened, while the traffic in furs was not abated. 
Continual efforts were made to hold the two great water- 
ways of the continent, the St. Lawrence and the Mis- 
sissippi, against the encroachments of the English. A 
French fort was again planted at Niagara, but the 
English counterbalanced this by erecting one at Os- 
wego. Louis XIV. died in 1 715, and from this time 
on New France felt the loss of his strong arm. 
Vaudreuil died in 1725, and was succeeded by Marquis 
Beauharnois, who gave more attention to checking the 
advance of the English and less to home enterprise. 
At the head of the Narrows of Lake Champlain he 
built the stronghold known as Crown Point, and which 
was to play such an important part in the war to follow. 
In 1745 the troops of New England, with the assist- 
ance of some British ships, captured Louisbourg. In 
1756, what became known as the Seven Years' War was 
declared. 

No matter what else may be laid to the charge of 




MARQUIS DE MONTCALM. 



When Quebec Fell 177 

France, she generally sent her best to help fight the 
battles of the colony on the St. Lawrence, and now she 
quickly dispatched one of her ablest commanders, the 
Marquis de Montcalm. With him she sent De Levis, 
De Bougainville, and De Bourlamaque, and some of the 
best regiments. In respect to military skill the English 
soon proved far inferior. But if stronger from the point 
of the sword, so to speak, New France was in every 
other way much the weaker of the two. This had come 
about through a gradual weakening of the parent hand. 
Canada had, through no fault of her own, become a jest 
among certain ones high in kingly favour. " Fifteen 
thousand acres of snow ! " said one, " a beautiful inher- 
itance!" Immigration had long since ceased, and the 
increase in population had not been as great as had 
been wished. There were about sixty thousand inhabit- 
ants at this time ; possibly a few more, probably a few 
less. Of these, seven thousand lived in Quebec, mostly 
in the Lower Town. Montreal could claim between 
three and four thousand, while the balance were scat- 
tered up and down the valley. Nor was this sparse 
population the only weak spot of the country. The 
political power of the colony was rotten to the core. 
This had been slowly decaying, until the worst came 
upon the appearance on the scene of him whose bril- 
liancy was more than sunk by his infamy. More 's the 
the dishonour, he came not as the choice of the weak- 
ling with the title of king, but through the wish of 
his mistress, Madame de la Pompadour. His name 



178 The St. Lawrence River 

was Francois Bigot, and he disgraced the high office 
created for the noble Talon. One of Canada's his- 
torians (Roberts), in describing him and his atrocious 
acts, says : 

Offices of profit under his authority he filled with such men as 
would follow his example and act as his tools. The old seigneurial 
families, unable to stem the tide of corruption, for the most part held 
aloof on their estates; though a few yielded to the baneful example. 
The masses suffered in hopeless silence. Montcalm, the military 
chief, had small means of knowing the real state of affairs, and still 
less means of interfering had he known. The governor alone, 
Vaudreuil, might have changed it; but he was either blinded by 
Bigot's cleverness or in sympathy with his crimes. Either directly 
or through his confederates, of whom the most notorious was a con- 
tractor named Cadet, Bigot's thieveries rose to a colossal figure. 
The King's millions sent out for war, the people's millions squeezed 
from them in crushing taxes, alike found their way into these 
rapacious pockets. The enemies of New France within the walls 
were as deadly as those without. As outside perils thickened 
Bigot's thefts grew more daring. Forts fell like ripe fruit into the 
hands of the English, because they were commanded by weak 
favourites of the Intendant, or because the Intendant had kept the 
money which should have supplied them with arms and food. 
'. . . It is claimed that in two years alone, 1757 and 1758, the 
Intendant cheated his King and country out of nearly five million 
dollars. 

While that fact, as satisfactory as it may be, did not 
help the situation then, it is gratifying to know that this 
infamous wretch was finally punished for his misde- 
meanours by banishment from France, and his estates 
confiscated. 

Under these adverse circumstances was Montcalm 
called upon to defend the honour of this ravaged peo- 
ple. As might have been expected, for a time this 



When Quebec Fell 179 

gallant soldier was successful. He was victorious at 
Ticonderoga, following the capture of Fort William 
Henry, with its accompanying horrors. But the French 
lost Louisbourg, and Canada was cut in twain through 
the capture of Fort Frontenac by a body of colonial 
militia. In the east and in the west Canada was writh- 
ing under the blows of her enemy. Montcalm was 
driven back to the St. Lawrence, but where he moved 
there was hope. Now, if ever, New France needed the aid 
of the King, but Montcalm's earnest request for men and 
money was met by a firm refusal, and he was told to 
stand upon the defensive and await the turn of fortune. 
Under such conditions as these, with the vultures still 
clutching at her throat, Montcalm prepared for the in- 
evitable at Quebec. 

The story of the siege and capture of Quebec by 
Wolfe has been told so frequently, and so well, that a 
detailed description is not called for here. Of the com- 
manders, the British general was the junior of his rival 
by fourteen years. He was of slight frame, and not 
physically strong. He was the son of industrious but 
humble parents, educated for war, had seen some hard 
fighting, and had been the choice of Pitt, then the domi- 
nating spirit in England, to command an expedition 
against the stronghold of New France. He had under 
him less than nine thousand men, composed of tried and 
stalwart regulars of the English army, and a company 
of New England rangers, who had made the success of 
the English on the lakes of the highlands certain. 



180 The St. Lawrence River 

Montcalm was the son of a nobleman of the best 
blood of France. He, too, had been trained from boy- 
hood as a soldier, and had won signal distinction as 
a military leader. Like Wolfe he had accepted this 
charge from a sense and love of duty, rather than from 
his own choice. He had a force of about sixteen thou- 
sand men, of whom about four thousand were regulars, 
and five thousand belonged to the Canadian militia. 
One of the last-named was considered to be equal to 
three regulars when it came to bush-fighting, but he 
was an uncertain factor in open battle. The balance 
of his troops were undisciplined peasants and Indians. 
He knew the fate of New France rested with him. 
Should Wolfe fail another might renew the struggle. 
Should he fail, and Quebec fall, slight hope would there 
be for the French in the St. Lawrence valley. 

Montcalm closed the mouth of the St. Charles with 
great booms of timber, and planted upon its banks 
frowning batteries. At the outlet of the Beauport 
stream he constructed a floating battery of twelve guns- 
In fact he ranged defences along the St. Lawrence as 
far down as the Montmorency. De Ramesay was given 
two thousand men with which to defend the Lower 
Town, while a cordon of fire-ships and gunboats lined 
the water's edge. Behind a hundred cannons bidding 
defiance to the enemy from the summit of rock, he 
stationed the main body of his force, ready at a mo- 
ment's warning to rush to the defence of any position. 
His situation seemed impregnable, — without a possi- 




o g 



When Quebec Fell 



ibi 



bility of an attack from the rear; with a front that 
seemed insurmountable. 

Wolfe and his fleet appeared opposite the Isle of 
Orleans toward the last of June, 1759, and disembark- 
ing his troops he intrenched himself on the western 
point, within four miles of the enemy's guns looking 
ominously down upon him from the rocky citadel. The 
French fleet had been sent up the river for safety, and 
to allow the crews to assist in the defence of the city. 

Before Wolfe's eyes was now unfolded the magnitude of his 
task. 1 On his right was the splendid white cataract of Montmor- 
ency leaping out of the dark fir groves on the summit of the ridge. 
Beyond lay the long, serried lines of intrenchments, swarming with 
the white uniforms of France. Then the crowded, steep roofs and 
spires of the Lower Town, with the gunboats and fire-ships on its 
water-front. And then, soaring over all, the majestic promontory 
of Cape Diamond; its grim face seamed with batteries, and stairs, 
and climbing ribbons of streets; its summit crowned with portentous 
bastions and with the chivalrous banners of France. 

Escaping a desperate effort on the part of the French to de- 
stroy his ships by the fire-boats, Wolfe fortified himself, and planted 
batteries on Point Levi, from whence he could bombard the city. 
He took possession of the height below Montmorency, and tried to 
get in the rear of Montcalm's line of defence, but failed in his 
purpose. Under cover of his guns on Point Levi, he did succeed 
in sending a portion of his fleet up the river, to harass his enemy 
between Quebec and Cap Rouge. But in spite of his endeavours 
the summer passed without bringing him any encouragement of 
ultimate success. He had lost half a thousand men in a vain attack 
upon Beauport, and nearly as many more from the firing of their 
foes and sickness. The expected aid from Amherst was not likely 
to come. Troubled to obtain supplies for his army, and himself ill 
with a fever, it was little wonder the brave and sanguine commander 
began to lose courage. Without having gained any vantage after 
over two months of desultory fighting, was there any prospect that 

1 Roberts. 



1 82 The St. Lawrence River 

he could do better for the next sixty days ? By the end of that time 
cold weather would be upon them, and it would not do for them to 
remain and get ice-locked. Looking the situation squarely in the 
face, without losing courage or buoying himself up by any dream of 
success, Wolfe began to consider anew, and bolder, plan of operation. 

About the first of September he was apprised of what Phips had 
been told in his forlorn attack years before. This was the fact of a 
slight break in the river-bank, where men could scale the ascent to 
the top. The place was guarded, but a small body of men climbing 
up to them unawares might easily overpower them, and hold the 
pass until the main body of the army could ascend to the plains. 
Wolfe profited where Phips lost. It was a desperate undertaking, 
and to do it he must recall his force from Montmorency. But even 
this worked in his favour, for the watchful Montcalm concluded that 
it was the first step toward withdrawing; and every move Wolfe 
made was given this substantial colouring. The alertness of the 
French commander is expressed in his own words: 

" Our troops are in their tents, with clothes on, ready for an alarm; 
I in my boots; my horses saddled. In fact, this is my custom. I 
wish you were here, for I cannot be everywhere, though I multiply 
myself, and have not taken off my clothes since the 23rd of June." 

Again, on the nth of September, only two days 
before the great battle, he wrote to Bourlamaque, pro- 
bably his last message : 

I am oppressed with work, and should often lose my temper, 
as you do, if I were not paid by Europe not to do it. Nothing 
new has occurred since I wrote you last. I give the enemy an- 
other month, or even less, to stay here. 

He had" written that a hundred men could hold at 
bay any force the enemy might try to push up the gully 
of Arise du Foulon, where Wolfe had fixed his gaze. 
Perhaps he was right. It should so be under proper 
watchfulness. Even the hawk sleeps sometimes. For- 
tune favours the bold. In order to replenish their less- 



When Quebec Fell 183 

ening stock of provisions, the French planned to run 
down, under cover of night, boats from Montreal. While 
this scheme had really been abandoned, the sentries 
were in ignorance of the fact, and nightly looked for 
the coming of the friendly boats. 

On the 4th of September, Wolfe's illness again 
fastened itself upon him, and, though he recovered 
somewhat by the 7th, it was his opinion the end was 
not far distant with him, should he escape the bullets 
of his enemy. But this solemn conviction did not dis- 
courage him from carrying out his daring purpose. It 
rained for two days and nights in succession, making it 
uncomfortable for all, but affording partial concealment 
for the work in hand. Wolfe's ships were moving back 
and forth upon the river, worrying the French by their 
pretences to effect a landing at different places. On 
the 1 2th, the vessels anchored off Cap Rouge. The 
evening of that day had been selected by Wolfe for his 
attack. A demand had been made for a squad of men 
to lead the way up the gully to overpower the guard. 
Twenty-four brave men volunteered to do whatever 
duty was asked of them. Though every soldier felt 
that some momentous undertaking was coming, no 
one knew just what it was to be. 

The night selected was starless, and under its cover 
the troops, numbering not quite five thousand, were 
ordered to enter the boats, and there await the ebbing 
of the tide. It had been the custom for the vessels to 
move up with the flow of the tide, and back with its 



1 84 The St. Lawrence River 

ebb. This was a part of the plan now. The boat with 
the brave twenty-four was to lead, while Wolfe was to 
follow next to it. 

During the interval of waiting the young com- 
mander, suffering from his illness, but hopeful of vic- 
tory, took from a chain about his neck a miniature of a 
beautiful young woman to whom he was betrothed. 
His gaze lingered long and tenderly over the sweet 
face looking into his faintly in the dim lamplight of the 
rough cabin, and then he handed it to a companion, a 
youthful naval officer named Jervis, who was afterwards 
to become a great admiral, asking him to return it to 
the owner, Miss Lowther, adding that he did not ex- 
pect to live until another day. Then he gave a short 
message for his mother, and with thoughts of these, 
mother and sweetheart, the most tender that sway the 
human heart, he descended into his boat, to depart 
upon that errand which was to shake an empire founded 
upon a rock, but whose structure had become honey- 
combed with the follies of weak men. 

The darkness and silence of this midnight jour- 
ney is enlivened by the pretty story of Wolfe's reciting 
Grays Elegy while he was being borne on the tide, re- 
marking to his companions that " I would rather be 
the author of that piece than take Quebec." This 
plausible conceit, to a certain extent illustrates the 
peculiar traits of the British commander, his moods 
of enthusiasm, his love for good literature, and clear- 
cut courage that never faltered under the most trying 



When Quebec Fell 185 

situations. No less authority than Sir Walter Scott 
seems first to have given the legend prominence by re- 
lating it as it was told to him by one who overheard the 
speech. But as nearly three-fourths of a century had 
elapsed since that eventful night, it is possible that 
error may have crept in and that the incident which 
gave the legend substance occurred a few hours, or 
even a day before. But this does not rob the gem of 
its lustre. 

The foremost boat, or rather boats, for it took two 
to convey the vanguard of this expedition, was in com- 
mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Howe, who in later years 
became a prominent English general during the Ameri- 
can Revolution. In this boat was also an officer of the 
Highlanders who could speak French perfectly. Be- 
hind these followed the others, in darkness and in sil- 
ence, while they were carried swiftly down to Anse du 
Foulon, from that night known as Wolfe's Cove. 

As the boat came abreast of the Palisades a sharp- 
voiced sentry challenged: il Qtci vive?" " France" ^ re- 
plied the Highlander, promptly. " Quel rdgiment est ce 
la?" u De la Reine" responded the quick-witted 
officer, naming a French regiment he knew was at Cap 
Rouge. They were allowed to keep on amid a silence 
that none dared to break. A little lower down they 
were hailed again, and as before the shrewd officer 
made replies that were satisfactory. This time he 
boldly declared they were French provision boats, and 
that silence must be maintained. 



1 86 The St. Lawrence River 

Upon reaching the cove the troops hastily landed, 
and the foremost began the ascent of the bank, led by 
the Highlander. More frequently than otherwise great 
victories are the result largely of some blunder upon the 
part of the loser. Montcalm may not have blundered, 
but it so happened that at this very hour, four a.m., 
while the twenty-four daring climbers were ascending to 
the Plains of Abraham, the officer in command of this 
pass at Anse du Foulon was one Vergor, who had been 
once tried for cowardice, and who had escaped only 
through the influence of Vaudreuil and Bigot. He may 
not have been a coward, but he was asleep in his tent ! 
Some say he had been bribed by the English, but a 
bribed man would never sleep under those circum- 
stances. Be that as it may, the sentinels were easily 
surprised, and Vergor was seized as he sprang from his 
bunk. The signal was given for the others to follow, and 
in a minute Wolfe, though weak and faint, stood at last at 
the top. The breaking day disclosed his army arrayed 
along the summit. With a portion of the French forces 
above him at Cap Rouge under De Bougainville, and 
the main body under Montcalm at Quebec, now fairly 
between the two, there was no alternative save to push 
forward to victory or death. 

Two small pieces of artillery had been dragged up, 
and with these Wolfe advanced to the edge of the Plains 
of Abraham, within a mile of Quebec, though this 
could not be seen on account of an intervening ridge. 
The Plains, so called for one Maitre Abraham, a noted 



When Quebec Fell 187 

river pilot in former days who had owned the land, 
were covered with tall, grass, broken here and there 
with patches of corn and clumps of bushes. As Wolfe 
drew up his line upon this broad plateau, flanked on the 
one side by the high bank of the St. Lawrence, on the 
other by the meadows of the sleepy St. Charles, and 
fronted by the fortifications of Quebec commanding the 
surrounding country, he passed along encouraging his 
soldiers with spirited words to strike that day for love 
and honour of Old England, and theirs would be the 
glory. He had seemed to throw off his recent illness, 
though he looked little like the hero, with his tall, ema- 
ciated figure, his sloping shoulders, small head, reced- 
ing forehead, met by red hair cut short, a long, pointed 
nose, and pallid skin, but there was the fire of a martial 
spirit in the flashing eyes, and the inspiration of un- 
bounded courage in his voice. 

At this moment a breathless courier was informing 
Montcalm of his peril, and immediately there was lively 
effort put forth to prepare for the enemy. The regi- 
ments were ordered up from the trenches at Beauport. 
Help was summoned from the garrisons of the Lower 
Town, but these refused to leave their post. Other 
regiments, owing, it is said, to Vaudreuil's influence, 
were not on hand. But with about 4500 men Mont- 
calm formed a line of battle, and leading them in per- 
son, mounted upon his magnificent black horse, he went 
forth to meet his conqueror, knowing that the fate of 
Canada was to be decided within that half -hour. It 



1 88 The St. Lawrence River 

may be he ought to have waited, as some say, until he 
could have had a better understanding with the gov- 
ernor; until De Ramesay at the city could have been 
persuaded to have sent him a dozen pieces instead of 
only three; until De Bougainville could have come to 
his aid; until many things possible and impossible might 
have happened, but his destiny and Canada's had willed 
it nay. Every inch a commander born to gain victories 
did he look, while he addressed a few words to his 
followers. "As he brandished his sword in gesticulat- 
ing to them, the wide sleeves of his coat fell away so as 
to disclose the white linen of his wristband," said one of 
his soldiers in after years. 

With greater calmness the British commander and 
his soldiers in their red uniforms awaited this desperate 
charge. When the French were within forty yards they 
suddenly found themselves confronted by a human wall 
thrown across their pathway. The sharp command, the 
rattle of musketry, a sheet of flame, and the ranks of 
the oncoming army were riven. The French fought 
bravely, answering volley for volley, but while they 
strove they staggered back, enveloped in smoke. Swift 
to follow up his advantage, Wolfe gave the command 
to charge, himself leading his men. Amid wild cheering 
the British regulars, the Highlanders, and the New Eng- 
land Rangers under Captain Stark sprang forward, and 
the tide of battle was stemmed if not turned. Wolfe's 
wrist was shattered by a bullet. Binding it with a 
handkerchief, he kept on, only to receive a second, 



When Quebec Fell 189 

and then a third shot. The last entered his breast, and 
he sank to the ground, unable to go farther. A lieu- 
tenant of the grenadiers named Brown and a volunteer 
by the name of Henderson, assisted by two others, 1 
seeing him fall, carried him in their arms to the rear. 

" Run for a surgeon! " cried one. " There is no need 
of that," he answered. " Lay me down. It 's all over 
with me." Glancing from the sufferer toward the scene 
of action, Lieutenant Brown exclaimed : " They run ! 
look, how they run ! " " Who run ? " asked Wolfe, start- 
ing up from the lethargy stealing over him. " The 
enemy, sir. Egad, they are giving away everywhere !" 
Rallying somewhat at this welcome announcement, he 
said: " Go, one of you, and tell Colonel Burton to order 
Webb's regiment down to the Charles River, to cut off 
their retreat from the bridge." Then the dying victor, 
moving slightly, murmured: " God be praised! I will die 
in peace." A moment later and the hero lived in name 
only. 

It was in vain Montcalm tried to stem the tide of 
retreat, and on horseback he was fairly swept toward the 
town. The bullets were still flying thick about them as 
they reached the St. Louis gate, and one pierced his 
body. He would have fallen from his horse, but two 
soldiers held him in position until he had passed through 
into the town, where an excited crowd was anxiously 
awaiting the result of the ominous firing. One of the 

1 1 have reason to believe that one of these was Captain William Stark, of 
the New England Rangers. See Turnbull's painting of The Death of Wolfe. 
— Author. 



190 The St. Lawrence River 

spectators, a woman, who recognised him, discovered 
the blood upon his white shirt-front, and cried : " O mon 
Dieu ! mon Dieu ! le Marquis est tite 1 7 " " It's nothing," 
he replied, rallying somewhat ; " do not be grieved for 
me, my good friends." He was taken to a house to be 
treated by a surgeon. But the great French leader 
was beyond mortal aid. When he was told of this, he 
said : " I shall die happy not to live to see the surren- 
der of Quebec." Refusing to confer with De Ramesay 
and others, he gave his attention to arranging some 
business matters. He did not forget to look after the 
welfare of those who had been intrusted to his care, 
and almost his last act. was to send the following appeal 
to the British commander : 

Monsieur, the humanity of the English sets my mind at peace 
concerning the fate of the French and Canadian prisoners. Feel 
toward them as they have caused me to feel. Do not let them per- 
ceive that they have changed masters. Be their protector as I have 
been their father. 

He lived until morning, quietly breathing his last 
at four o'clock. He was buried in a coffin made of 
rough boards by an old servitor, on the morning of the 
14th, his grave a hollow scooped out of the earth under 
the floor of the Ursuline Convent by a bursting shell, 
— a sepulture grand in its very simplicity, and befitting 
the hero. In far-away Candiac, the stately home of the 
Montcalms, one of the most beautiful women in France 
had awakened from a night's troubled sleep a widow ; 
and three fair children, hopefully looking forward to his 




MAJOR-GENERAL JAMES WOLFE. 



When Quebec Fell 191 

home-coming, listened in vain for the sound of his step 
and the music of a father's voice. 

The body of Wolfe was embalmed, and conveyed to 
England upon the gun-ship Royal William, the rejoic- 
ings over his great victory saddened by the sorrow of his 
death. He was given sepulture in the vault of the 
parish church at Greenwich, where his aged father had 
been borne only a few months before, and where his 
mother followed six years later. 

Five days after the battle De Ramesay formally sur- 
rendered Quebec to General Townshend, who had be- 
come the successor of Wolfe. While the English felt 
jubilant over their conquest, the French were still hope- 
ful, but even they could not realise how near they were 
to come in their efforts to recapture Quebec. 



Chapter XIV 

Under the New Regime 

Second Battle of the Plains — Surrender of Montreal — Conquest Closes at Pont- 
chartrain — Result — Campaign of 1775-76 — Fall of Montgomery — Arnold's 
Retreat — The "Hungry Year" — Heroism of the Canadians at Chateauguay 
— Naval Fight on Lake Champlain — Victory of McDonough — Hard Blow to 
the English — End of War of 181 2-1 5 — Result of this War to Canada — Im- 
portant Periods in History — Final Union of the Provinces. 

THE fall of Montcalm left the French at Quebec 
without a commander able to rally the de- 
moralised forces. Oh, then for one hour of 
Frontenac ! or that up from the dust of her streets 
might rise the shade of Champlain ! The weak Vaud- 
reuil, though he had a larger force than the English 
could muster, beat a hasty retreat up the St. Lawrence. 
De Levis, who was alone worthy to succeed Montcalm, 
was in Montreal. Fearful that he might appear upon 
the scene with superior forces, Townshend, who was 
now in command of the British army, pushed the cam- 
paign so vigorously the terrified citizens demanded that 
De Ramesay surrender. This he for a time refused to 
do. Finally he consented, and the flag of truce was run 
up. Some one pulled it down. A second time it was 
raised, and that time it remained until the hands of the 
conquerors removed it. Townshend proved a magnani- 

192 



Under the New Regime 193 

mous captor. The garrison marched out with full 
honours of war, and were sent away to France at the 
expense of England. The citizens and Indians were 
promised all the protection that could be given English 
subjects, providing they should prove loyal to their 
pledge. Then the lilied standard of France, the fleur- 
de-lis of Champlain, the founder of the city, the proud 
emblem under which Frontenac had conquered, came 
down from its lofty position, and in its stead was flung 
to the breeze the red cross of St. George. 

While the result proved a decided victory, there was 
a following interval filled with unrest and uncertainty. 
During the succeeding winter the English commander 
found himself placed in greatly straitened circumstances. 
The British fleet sailed away to England, the command 
being left to General Murray. First the rigour of the 
climate, and then the scarcity of provisions, made the 
situation desperate. To add to this, with the return of 
spring it was found that a determined effort was to be 
made to recover the city and its fortifications. At this 
time famine, climate, and disease, the outcome of the 
two former, had reduced the British forces from seven 
to three thousand men fit for duty. Toward the last 
of April the only vessel that Murray could get to per- 
form the errand, the Lawrence, was sent down the river 
to look for the expected fleet from the homeland, and to 
hasten its coming, while a small band of New England 
Rangers, who had served under Wolfe, were sent with a 
lieutenant to convey to General Amherst, then stationed 



194 The St. Lawrence River 

at Lake Ontario, information of the critical condition of 
the garrison. Unknown to them, at that time over nine 
thousand regulars and volunteers were on their way 
down the river from Montreal under the leadership of 
De Levis, who had sworn to recapture Quebec. 

There are conflicting accounts as to the manner in 
which the British were apprised of the coming of the 
enemy. One of these was that the sentry on duty was 
warned of the coming of De Levis by one of the latter's 
officers whom he rescued from drowning in the river 
through the capsizing of his boat, when all his men 
were lost. The other, and better authenticated explana- 
tion, shows how the advancing French were discovered 
by one of Murray's men stationed at the outpost at 
Ste. Foye. It was about three o'clock on the morning 
of April 27th, when General Murray was aroused, and 
the order " To arms ! " was immediately given. March- 
ing out through the St. Louis and St. John gates he 
hastened to the outpost at Ste. Foye. De Levis at that 
moment was advancing through the growth covering the 
lowlands at the foot of Ste. Foye, and upon receiving a 
sharp cannonade, when he had expected to make the 
surprise, without knowing the weakness of the British 
he quickly fell back, deciding to outflank the enemy he 
had failed to take unawares, still in ignorance of the fact 
that he had encountered more than the regular force 
stationed here. 

Realising that he would be unable to cope success- 
fully with so large a force, Murray destroyed his works 



Under the New Regime 195 

here, and retreated to the city. But having done this 
he quickly decided that the condition of the fortifica- 
tions was such that it would be folly for him to stake his 
fortune upon a single chance, and he resolved to muster 
every man he could and meet the enemy at the most 
favourable spot. This he considered to be the gentle 
swell upon the Plains known as Les Buttes-a-Neveu, 
where he ordered his troops to be formed, while he rode 
ahead to reconnoitre. The foremost brigades of De 
Levis were then swinging around toward Sillery, while 
the main body was coming along the Ste. Foye road in 
marching order. Without waiting for the enemy to 
open the fight, the ambitious Murray, brave to rash- 
ness, ordered his troops forward, and, regardless of the 
fact that he was outnumbered two to one by some of 
the best troops of Canada, led by one of the most 
skilful strategists of the times, opened fire upon the 
French columns. Then ensued one of the most desperate 
battles, while it lasted, ever fought on Canadian soil. 
Every man proved himself a hero, but when Murray 
had seen each third man under him go down, he found 
that he could save the others only by falling back, which 
was defined to mean by his grisly veterans "retreat." 
De Levis did not deem it wise to follow, and thus the 
golden opportunity to recover New France to the French 
was lost. It is true, anxious months of siege followed, 
and De Levis played a losing game with credit. All de- 
pended upon the arrival of succour from the old countries. 
Should that of France come first, the fleur-de-lis would 



19 6 The St. Lawrence River 

again float above the walls of Quebec. In the midst of 
this suspense a vessel was sighted coming up the St. 
Lawrence, but she carried no flag at her masthead. 
Was she French, or English, or did she come from an- 
other port ? While friends and foes alike watched with 
feverish interest the mysterious stranger, realising that 
the destiny of a nation hung upon the character of the 
approach, in the midst of the suspense the flag of Eng- 
land was run up the mast ! Quebec was saved to the 
English ! While the cheers of his enemies rang on the 
air De Levis prudently withdrew his fleet. Nothing re- 
mained for the French but a forlorn hope at Montreal. 
De Levis was followed up the St. Lawrence, in due 
time, by Murray, who stationed himself a few miles 
below Montreal. At the same time Lord Amherst, 
General Jeffrey, in answer to the summons sent him, 
started down the river from Lake Ontario, as described 
elsewhere. Down the Richelieu came Colonel Havi- 
land, who speedily joined Murray, when the united 
forces moved forward, the latter to take up a position 
just below the French, while the former chose his 
nearly opposite. About this time Amherst appeared 
before the western walls of the city. The Canadian 
militia, foreseeing the ultimate outcome, upon receiving 
promise of protection from the British deserted De 
Levis and returned to their scattered homes, thankful 
to escape the toils of war. This left the gallant De 
Levis with barely two thousand regulars under him, and 
he had no other alternative than to surrender, which he 




MONTMORENCY FALLS. 
From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 



Under the New Regime 197 

did on the 8th of September, 1 760, within six days of a 
year from the memorable morning that Wolfe led the 
way to victory upon the Plains of Abraham. The 
same generous terms as those given at Quebec were 
made here. General Murray was appointed as the first 
governor under the new government. 

The closing act in this drama of conquest was yet to 
be played. The leader intrusted with the work was 
Major Robert Rogers, with his Rangers, sent by Am- 
herst to take possession of Fort Pontchartrain on the 
Detroit. It was in November, 1760, and in ignorance 
of the capitulation at Montreal the French commander 
here saw with wonder the presence of English troops 
where they had not dared to venture before. The first 
summons to surrender he treated with disdain, but the 
second, given in facsimile of the capitulation at Mon- 
treal, with an order from Marquis de Vaudreuil direct- 
ing the surrender of the fort, put a different phase upon 
the situation. Nothing else could be done. The flag- 
staff was soon bereft of its fleur-de-lis, and made to 
swing to the breeze the flag of the incoming power. 
New France was only a memory. 

Never was conquest more fortunate. What the 
outcome might have been in the valley of the St. Law- 
rence had this been delayed awhile longer is vain to 
speculate. Let it be said to her honour that seldom has 
fairer treatment been accorded a vanquished party than 
that England allowed her new subjects here in Canada. 
In the words of one of her historians : 



198 The St. Lawrence River 

Previous history affords no example of such forbearance and 
generosity on the part of the conquerors toward the conquered — 
forming such a new era in civilised warfare, that an admiring world 
admitted the claim of Great Britain to the glory of conquering a 
people less from views of ambition and the security of her colonies 
than from the hope of improving their situation, and endowing them 
with the privileges of freedom. 

Upon the other hand, it was shown that the people 
who had borne with fidelity the duties pertaining to 
them as French citizens during the protracted struggle 
between the colonies, of border warfare and its attend- 
ant evils, were capable of bearing with a spirit of resig- 
nation the humiliation of defeat as well as the dclat of 
victory. The Quebec Act of 1774, which recognised 
the French civil laws, allowed free religious and civil 
rights, and, granting the official use of the language of 
their race, made them faithful, loyal, and loving subjects. 
The real wellspring of history is the homes of the com- 
mon people. It is here, rather than in the stormy 
scenes of battle, that we must look for the true source 
of their success. Here we find Canada especially fortu- 
nate. Her peasant population, which have ever been 
the filling in the fabric of national greatness, has not 
only been of a firm texture, but of lasting, durable 
qualities. 

Despite this fact, upon the conquest of the British a 
large percentage of the old seigneurial families, unable 
to face the necessity of owing allegiance to the flag 
which they, their fathers, and their fathers' fathers had 
spent their lives in fighting, quietly slipped away to 



Under the New Regime 199 

France. The St. Lawrence country was greatly the 
loser on this account. To take their places, if not to 
fill them, came the English immigrant, the Scotch and 
the Irish, with later a goodly lot of New Englanders 
who had remained true to the King during the American 
Revolution. 

The Treaty of Paris of February 10, 1763, had 
marked a notable change in the situation in America. 
By it France relinquished her claim to more than half 
of the continent. Besides this she yielded the territory 
of Louisiana to Spain, which in turn had given up 
Florida. All that the descendent power of Louis XIV. 
could now claim across the ocean was a few small 
islands of New Foundland, which had been reserved 
for fishing stations. Not a pleasant ending to the 
dream of Champlain, though into such hands had his 
heritage fallen 't were better so. 

England was now mistress of America, and inflated 
with the prowess of her arms. But no greater statesman 
than Montcalm had predicted that the success of En- 
gland in the St. Lawrence valley would prove disastrous 
to her power over the colonies in the provinces she had 
fostered. Here was an aggressive element of a different 
stamina from that she had subdued in the north. If 
they had sufficient cause for the course they pursued is 
not a matter for consideration here. When they re- 
belled it was natural they should look for allies among 
the French in the valley of the "great river," who 
they took for granted must be still smarting under the 



200 The St. Lawrence River 

pains of their recent defeat. Their overtures proving 
failures, as described elsewhere, they resolved to ac- 
complish by force of arms what they could not secure 
by peaceful means. This resulted in the famous attack 
upon the citadel of Quebec under General Montgomery 
upon the morning of December 31, 1775, aided by 
Arnold and his contingent. 

This unfortunate campaign, unfortunate both from its 
conception and the death of General Montgomery, was 
one of the most heroic and arduous that American history 
records. Arnold, the first upon the scene, and to whom 
has been credited the daring scheme, though some say 
it originated with Washington, reached the valley of the 
St. Lawrence with decimated ranks and forlorn appear- 
ance after his memorable journey up the Kennebec 
through the wilds of Maine, over " the terrible carrying- 
place," and down the Chaudiere. Having less than 
half the men he had started with, but a gallant five 
hundred, he climbed the same steep path to the Plains 
of Abraham that Wolfe had followed a little over six- 
teen years before. The audacious Arnold, parading 
his troops, then demanded the surrender of the city. 
But the commander at this time, Lieutenant-Governor 
Cramache, not to be caught as Montcalm had been, 
by running into the enemy's power in ignorance of 
their numbers, replied with the voice of the cannon, and 
remained in his stronghold. Arnold wisely retreated 
to Pointe aux Trembles, and sent for Montgomery to 
come to his assistance. By this move the Americans 




c 



p fa 

< 



Under the New Regime 201 

commanded the river above Quebec, and Quebec only 
remained to be taken. 

Montgomery, who had recently been promoted to 
the position of Major- General, than whom no more 
valiant officer ever commanded an army, lost no time 
in starting to the assistance of Colonel Arnold. He 
had fought under Wolfe at the battle of the Plains of 
Abraham in 1759, and looked eagerly forward to an- 
other conquest of the " Gibraltar of America," with 
himself as leader. He had good reason to feel hopeful, 
for he had not only pushed his way successfully down 
the Richelieu, seizing the forts of St John's and Cham- 
bly on his way, but had found Montreal an easy prize. 
Leaving sufficient of his troops here under General 
Wooster to meet any uprising that might take place, 
he hastened down the St. Lawrence with three hundred 
men. 

With the English the situation was less hopeful. 
The command had devolved upon Sir Guy Carleton, 
also a comrade under Wolfe at Quebec sixteen years 
before. The regulars under him had been but a small 
force, and the French peasants, claiming a desire to re- 
main neutral, had defied the orders of the seigneurs 
and the expostulations of the priests to rally to the 
defence of the Government. In this plight he had been 
unable to cope with Montgomery at Montreal, and had 
barely escaped by flight in the disguise of a habitant. 
Upon the very day that Arnold withdrew his troops, 
Carleton appeared in Quebec, to the joy of its loyal 



202 The St. Lawrence River 

inhabitants. Here he decided to make a desperate 
stand, and after sifting out the disaffected •" neutrals " 
he had about four hundred regulars and a few more 
French Canadian volunteers, upon whom he could 
count under all circumstances. Besides these, the 
citizens of Quebec stood ready to assist with all their 
power. 

Immediately upon reaching Arnold at Pointe aux 
Trembles, General Montgomery resolved upon moving 
against Quebec at once, though their combined forces 
did not quite reach one thousand men. He had in- 
creased his little company at Sorel with Captain 
Lamb's company of artillery, who had taken along sev- 
eral mortars. Colonel Arnold, more perhaps than he, 
had been greatly disappointed in finding the Canadian 
peasants unwilling to join in the undertaking. He had 
counted with confidence upon being strongly reinforced 
from this direction, and now he did not find a man dis- 
posed to lift a gun. In the face of difficulties which 
must have daunted less sanguine leaders, they besieged 
the stronghold. Though they held tenaciously to their 
purpose for over a month nothing was gained. 

Toward the last of the year General Montgomery 
decided upon an attack by night, hoping to surprise the 
enemy. Into this undertaking Arnold entered heartily, 
and, as he was well acquainted with the situation of the 
defences, the plan was largely his. But the intentions 
of the Americans became known to the British through 
a traitor, and Carleton resolved that he would not be 



Under the New Regime 203 

taken by surprise. The night selected for the despe- 
rate assault was the last of the year, and it was on the 
early morning of December 31, 1775, when the assault- 
ing columns moved upon their stern purpose. A bitter 
snow-storm was raging with Canadian fury, a fitting 
night for such a wild venture. One column was led 
along the St. Charles through the suburb of St. Roch. 
A terrific fight ensued, during which Arnold was 
wounded, and, the British getting in the rear of his 
troops, he was driven back, and about four hundred 
men were captured. 

General Montgomery was even less fortunate. He 
sought to gain the city by a narrow defile known as 
Pres-de-ville, near what is now Champlain Street. 
Here, with a precipice running down to the river upon 
one hand, and on the other the scarped rock reaching 
above, he was confronted by a battery of three-pounders 
manned by a squad of Canadians and British militia- 
men. Still believing he was going to effect a surprise, 
the American commander urged his men forward in 
the face of the pelting storm, and the yet more deadly 
hail of grape that instantly swept the pass. Mont- 
gomery fell, with two officers and ten of his brave men, 
while the rest beat a precipitous retreat. Over the 
body of the unfortunate officer, worthy of a nobler end, 
the falling snow quickly threw a white shroud as if in 
compassion for his fate. 

In the morning the bodies of the fallen Americans 
were taken into the city and given burial. The body 



204 The St. Lawrence River 

of the leader was buried with special honours, and his 
grave in the St. Louis bastion was marked with a cut 
stone. In 1818, upon the desire of Mrs. Montgomery, 
the widow, the remains of General Montgomery were 
removed from their resting-place in Quebec to New 
York, and there re-interred. Over the spot where this 
brave American fell in the service of his country, a 
tablet has been placed bearing this inscription : 

Here Montgomery Fell, 
December 31st, 1775. 

The command now devolved upon Arnold, who main- 
tained the siege, or, more strictly speaking, blockade, 
until spring. The Americans had been reinforced, but 
no sooner was the river beginning to clear of ice than 
a British ship was seen coming up the St. Lawrence 
with troops to assist the besieged garrison. Arnold 
hastily retired. This retreat was soon turned into a 
rout, for Carleton gave pursuit, capturing the artillery. 
Later an attack by the Indians upon the Americans at 
"The Cedars," on the St. Lawrence, resulted in the 
capture by them of about four hundred of the American 
troops, in May, 1776. A month later the Americans 
undertook the capture of Three Rivers, but after a 
fierce battle they were repulsed. Realising by this 
time the hopelessness of their attempt to conquer 
Canada, the Americans withdrew to Lake Champlain, 
where they commanded the inland gate to the valley of 



Under the New Regime 205 

the St. Lawrence until the following autumn. Both 
sides knowing the importance of holding this water- 
way, each prepared to battle for it. The American fleet, 
consisting of fifteen vessels carrying eighty-eight guns 
and defended by eight hundred and eleven men, of 
whom over a hundred were unfit to do duty, was placed 
under the command of Arnold. The English squadron, 
commanded by Carleton, was greatly the superior both 
in number of men and the quality of its ships, and Arnold 
was forced, after a gallant resistance, to abandon the 
lake to the English, when for over a third of a century 
the St. Lawrence valley was free from the invading 
foot. 

Following the close of the American Revolution, 
which gave to the Thirteen States their independence, 
the population of Canada was greatly increased by the 
Loyalists. They found here refuge and new homes, 
though only after severe hardships and such trying ex- 
periences as those of the "Hungry Year" of 1787, 
when even Mother Earth forgot her children and left 
them to find meagre sustenance upon the roots and 
buds of the wild land. If there was plenty of game in 
the forest, and an abundance of fish in the waters, the 
men had neither powder and bullet to slay the one nor 
tackle to catch the other. 

Gaunt men crept about with poles, striving to knock down the 
wild pigeons ; or they angled all day with awkward, home-made 
hooks for a few chub or perch to keep their families from starv- 
ation. In one settlement a beef-bone was passed from house to 
house that each household might boil it a little while and so get a 



206 The St. Lawrence River 

flavour in the pot of unsalted bran soup. A few of the weak and 
aged actually died of starvation during these famine months; and 
others were poisoned by eating noxious roots which they grubbed 
up in the woods. As the summer wore on, however, the kernels of 
wheat, oats, and barley began to grow plump. People gathered 
hungrily to the fields, to pluck and devour the green heads. 
Boiled, these were a luxury ; and hope stole back to the starving 
settlements. 

With those who came from the States to swell the 
population of the St. Lawrence valley, and prove her 
faithful defenders in wars to follow, were those old-time 
enemies, the Mohawks, among whom rises the grand fig- 
ure of Brant. A little later, from farther west came other 
tribes of Amerinds, led by the heroic chief of the Shaw- 
nees, Tecumseh, who fell fighting bravely her battles. 

Whatever other reasons may be assigned, and there 
were several of more or less significance, the underlying 
purpose of the declaration of the War of 1812 was the 
sentiment: "Europe for France; the New World for 
America." This meant the annexation of Canada to 
the United States. At this time the former had a pop- 
ulation of little over three hundred thousand, while the 
latter had nearly eight millions. The valley of the St. 
Lawrence, which included the region of the Great 
Lakes, from its geographic position became the battle- 
ground between the Provinces and the States. During 
the period when Napoleon was leading his great armies 
upon Spain and Russia, Great Britain had all she could 
attend to on the continent of Europe, and so Canada 
was left this time to fight the war of defence mainly 
through her own efforts. 



Under the New Regime 207 

Following their success at Moravian Town, where 
their dusky allies under the ill-fated Tecumseh put to 
shame the English troops, the Americans designed to 
carry out a plan which should place the whole of Upper 
Canada in their possession. Two divisions of the army 
were expected to co-operate in this ominous campaign. 
A body of troops comprising about six thousand men, 
under Major-General Hampton, was to move from Lake 
Champlain into the valley of the St. Lawrence, while a 
larger force of over eight thousand, under Major-Gen- 
eral Wilkinson, was to move down the St. Lawrence 
from Lake Ontario, and together the armies were to cap- 
ture Montreal. The first division moved promptly to the 
Chateauguay River, which finds its way into the St. 
Lawrence from the mountain range of the same name 
in northern New York. To check this, the English had 
a force of about fifteen hundred, so scattered as not to 
be available at once. In this plight De Salaberry, a 
veteran in England's cause, while belonging to the old 
Canadian noblesse, with less than four hundred French 
Canadians and a few Highlanders, intrenched himself 
in the path of Hampton and his troops. The result 
was a signal triumph for the valiant De Salaberry and 
his brave followers, who were specially honoured in con- 
sequence by England. In the meantime, General Wil- 
kinson got down as far as Cornwall, where he learned 
that Hampton had retreated. Without his co-operation 
he did not deem it wise to push down to Montreal. 
Accordingly he went into winter quarters on Salmon 



208 The St. Lawrence River 

River, thinking to make up in part for his disappoint- 
ment by capturing Prescott and Kingston. But a lack of 
provisions obliged him to fall back to Plattsburg, the 
entire campaign simply giving the Canadians opportun- 
ity to concentrate their forces on the Niagara frontier. 
Early in the spring General Wilkinson, with a little over 
four thousand men, undertook to capture the British 
post on the Richelieu River, held by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Williams, at the head of fifteen hundred men, but he 
failed in this. Losing courage over his defeats General 
Wilkinson soon after resigned his commission. 

The campaign about Niagara, which brought some 
hot fighting on both sides, and heavy losses of men, 
particularly at Lundy's Lane, where every fifth man on 
both sides was slain, was practically a series of drawn 
battles. Having defeated the Americans in their in- 
vasion of the St. Lawrence valley, the English now 
turned their attention to invading the country of the 
enemy. Triumphant in Europe over the powers of 
France, England could now assist in the cause of her 
colony. She sent over reinforcements to the troops, so 
that on the 3rd of September, Sir George Prevost, in 
command of fourteen thousand veterans, moved up the 
Saranac toward Plattsburg. The militia from New 
York and Vermont rallied under General Macomb to 
contest this advance, but, though they fought nobly, 
they could not stem the tide of invasion by so formid- 
able a body. 

At the same time Admiral Downie, with a force of a 



Under the New Regime 209 

thousand men and ninety-five guns, was moving up the 
Richelieu with his fleet. This squadron was met by 
Commodore McDonough, with a force of a little over 
eight hundred men and eighty-six guns. Then followed 
one of the most sanguinary battles of the war, resulting 
in victory for the gallant McDonough. The brave 
Englishman, Admiral Downie, was killed, and all of 
his ships were sunk or captured. Dismayed by this de- 
feat of the English fleet, Prevost retreated precipitately 
from the scene, greatly to the chagrin of his army, and 
thus the English invasion ended even more disastrously 
than that of the Americans. The fighting was now 
turned toward the south, resulting in Jackson's victory 
at New Orleans, and it could be said at last that the 
revolution of the colonists was fully consummated. 

The result of this war was particularly beneficial to 
Canada in one respect at least. It had tended to solid- 
ify the elements composing its population as no term 
of peace, for many times that number of years, could 
have done. The French militia had fought nobly in 
defence of their homeland, and no English or Scotch 
had shown greater valour within her gates. If paid for 
dearly, the prize was worth the sacrifice, and from this 
time the doubt of sincerity and loyalty was lifted from 
the colonists of the St. Lawrence valley. 

The history of Canada from this period has been 
chequered with a few disturbing incidents, one or two 
of which have threatened serious results, but her states- 
men have usually shaped her course in peaceful waters, 



210 The St. Lawrence River 

and on the whole she has progressed steadily and with 
credit. One of the most important periods since the 
conquest was during the division of the country into 
two provinces in 1 791. The population at this time 
was 120,000 in Lower Canada, and only 10,000 in 
Upper Canada. In 1826, the " Company of Canada" 
was incorporated with a capital of one million pounds 
sterling, for the express purpose of peopling the Can- 
adian wilds. In four years, 1 828-1831, it is claimed 
that over 150,000 settlers founded homes within her 
borders. This time has been called the " Period of 
the Great Immigration." With its great good to 
Canada, the limits of whose benefit cannot be placed, 
this movement brought a grievous misfortune in the 
form of the Asiatic cholera, which came with a ship-load 
of immigrants from Dublin in the summer of 1832. 
Started at one of the islands below Quebec, this dread 
scourge could not be held within bounds, and it swept 
with horrible devastation up the valley of the St. Law- 
rence, until checked by cold weather. Again the fol- 
lowing summer it broke out, though with less loss of 
life. 

In 1828 there was to be seen evidence of the un- 
easiness of the people over the political situation, when 
a petition was signed in Lower Canada by 87,000 
persons, remonstrating against the distribution of public 
patronage and the illegal application of the money, 
and of the Trade Act of the Imperial Parliament. The 
sequel to this came ten years later, in 1840, when 



Under the New Regime 2 1 1 

the British inhabitants, angered by Lord Elgin's sanc- 
tion of the Rebellion Losses Bill, burned the Parliament 
building and made a demand for a peaceful separation 
from the old country. The outcome of this animated 
struggle was the triumph of reform, and the union of 
the two provinces, which had been estranged for half a 
century. 



Chapter XV 
The Mysterious Saguenay 

Tadousac of Historic Interest — First Mission Here — The Old Church — The Fur- 
Trade— The Cavern River — Sixty Miles of Mountain Walls — Ha Ha Bay — 
Chicoutimi — Lake St. John — " The Grand Discharge" — Falls of Ouiatchouan 
— Cape Eternity. 

IF Gaspe can lay an uncertain claim to being the 
older settlement, Tadousac has the positive honour 
of being the first French station established upon 
the St. Lawrence from which evolved a permanent 
town, where trading posts were maintained in the early 
stages of exploration. The link which connects it to 
those trying days, with a deep feeling of veneration, is 
a little church, still standing, the first that was built in 
Canada. 

The natural features have changed so little since 
Champlain's visit, in 1603, that his description can be 
quoted : 

Le diet port de Tadoussac est petit, ok il ne pourroit que dix ou 
douze vaisseaux j mais il y a I'eau asses a de I 'Est, a Fabry de la ditte 
Riviere de Saguenay, le long d 'une petite Montaigne qui est presque 
coupe'e de la mer. Le reste ce sont Montaignes haultes eleve'es oil il y a 
peu de terre, sinon rochers et sables re7nplis de bois de pins, cyprez, 
sapins et quelques manures d'arbres de peu. II y a un petit estang, 
proche du dit port, renferme de Montaignes couvertes de bois. 



The Mysterious Saguenay 213 

The said port of Tadoussac is small, and could hold only ten or 
twelve vessels ; but there is water enough to the east, sheltered by 
the said River of Saguenay, along a little mountain which is very 
nearly cut in two by the sea. For the rest there are mountains of 
high elevation, where there is little soil, except rocks and sands 
filled with wood of pines, cypresses, spruces and some species of 
undergrowth. There is a pond near the said port, inclosed by 
mountains covered with wood. 

As we enter the realm of sombre attractiveness, the 
inky hue of the water of the dark Saguenay is seen in 
marked contrast to the clear flood of the St. Lawrence. 
Tadousac, its warder for a period older than history, has 
played an important part in the development of Canada 
as well as this vicinity, since that distant day when Cartier 
was first lured hither by the wonder stories of his dusky 
pilots. From its very position it became the original 
post for trade with the aboriginal hunters, who found 
the river their way of entrance from the solitude beyond 
the surrounding mountains. To-day, only the rem- 
nants of the Montagnais roam the interior, gaining a 
precarious existence where their ancestors, with a 
sprinkling of French, went in search of furs and pelts, 
often falling victims to privations and hardships 
which made their earnings dear. As has been shown, 
all through the old rdgime this region figured conspicu- 
ously in the output of pelts and the fisheries. 

Tadousac has also another phase of history, if less 
profitable. As early as 161 5, only four years after the 
coming of the pioneer of his faith, a little band of 
Recollets landed here for the avowed pious purpose of 
overcoming the baneful influences of the evil spirits 



214 The St. Lawrence River 

that were supposed to have their abode on that forbid- 
ding point of rock Champlain aptly christened La 
Pointe de Tours des Diables. 

This attempt proving unsuccessful in more ways 
than one, it was repeated in 1647 by the brave Jesuit 
Pere Duquen, and still a third and more satisfactory 
trial was made by Father Albanel in 1679, when he and 
young De St. Simon actually penetrated the unexplored 
regions, going as far north as Hudson Bay. To the 
heroic Pierre Chauvin, an associate with Pontgrave, as 
we have seen, belongs the credit of first trying to estab- 
lish the Catholic faith among the natives, he and some 
of his brave followers spending the winter of 1599-1600 
here, suffering terribly from cold and hunger. 

By this time it had dawned upon the active French 
mind that the true source of wealth from the Saguenay 
lay not in mines of gold and diamonds, which had been 
such potent factors in guiding the earlier explorers, 
but in the abundance of fur-bearing animals existing in 
the interior. So, just as Yermak, the discoverer of 
Siberia, and his followers, discovered in the sable and kin- 
dred animals a profitable revenue in that inhospitable 
clime, so Pontgrave and his successors found the beaver 
and its associate animals the true source of income from 
the broken wilds of Canada. Straightway huge com- 
panies were formed, and with remarkable indifference 
to the exact boundary of their domains, seventy thou- 
sand miles of area, reaching from Les Eboulements 
to the Moisic River, three thousand miles distant, and 




O" 



The Mysterious Saguenay 215 

northward to the highlands of Hudson Bay district, 
was leased for twenty-one years. A little over forty 
years later we find this tract of country given over to a 
body of leading bourgeois then in the country. This 
generous act did not seem to be more lasting than many 
of the other gifts and counter-gifts of that changeful 
period, for sixteen years later, 1658, Sieur Demaure ob- 
tained from the French Government the first regular 
lease, and a survey was soon after ordered, though this 
was not carried into effect until 1732. 

While the Saguenay district was looked upon during 
the French dominion with a greater degree of professed 
knowledge than the unexplored country lying to the 
north of the great river between Quebec and Montreal, 
in reality this conception was based upon the most vague 
hearsay evidence. Under the command of those who 
were reaping a rich harvest from its wilderness of ignor- 
ance, it was business policy to guard well its secrets, to 
throw over its solitude a shield of silence as impene- 
trable and unbroken as the primeval shadows, drawn 
like a curtain over its rugged features. This was the 
more easily done through the assistance of Nature her- 
self, who, in one of her wildest moods, had flung at the 
gateway rapids that only the bravest dared enter, and 
reared over them rocky bulwarks that gave an air of 
gloom and oppression which few cared to meet. 

Thus a few hundred pounds of revenue to the Gov- 
ernment, and no one outside of the pale of this se- 
cret dreamed of the great resources lying beyond the 



216 The St. Lawrence River 

barriers until in 1820 an investigation disclosed the facts 
in the situation. Suddenly the abundance of the forest, 
the fertility of the soil, the stores of the mines, the 
loaf leavened with a climate hitherto believed to have 
been impossible, awakened the people to its possibilities. 
In 1837, upon the expiration of the lease of the Hud- 
son Bay Company, a swift transformation began. Ener- 
getic colonists swarmed into the territory ; hundreds of 
homes were formed in the wilderness. In an incredibly 
short time the isolated trading posts of the fur-traders be- 
came thriving, bustling centres of population. In this 
way, the ancient prophecy was solved, and the Saguenay 
became in truth the stone gateway to an Eden lying 
within. 

An episode that never fades from the memory is 
one's first ascent of the Saguenay, — the cavern river, the 
Styx, — as dark and dreary to-day as it was when the 
imperious Roberval tried to penetrate its mysterious 
realm, remaining so long to solve its secret. The frown 
that greets him at the gate ; the air of mystery that 
invests the distance ; the solitude that overhangs the 
way : these rival powers combat with each other to stop 
his entrance and to lure him ahead. The result is a 
disappointment, or is it perplexity ? You may have 
ascended the Hudson, and gazed with rapt admiration 
upon its palisades, upon its rocky northern banks, upon 
its constant charms ; and here you meet — what ? You 
may have passed the castled banks of Europe's grand 
old river ; you find yourself comparing this to the 



The Mysterious Saguenay 217 

ancient Rhine as a block of stone in the sculptor's hand 
in the first stage of his chiselling. You may have come 
fresh from the dazzling streams of old Norland, whose 
short rivers run brief but glorious careers ; you find 
your attention here repelled rather than held. It is so 
with some scenes. The beholder is overawed by his 
environments, and he reels back with his senses dazed. 
Then, as he appreciates better the masterful display of 
Nature, he feels gradually stealing over him the unseen 
forces which chain him and imprison his very soul. It 
is this feeling the tourist experiences upon entering the 
templed hills of Nikko, Japan, but before he leaves the 
sacred mountain he finds its grandeur indelibly fixed 
upon his mind. It is so with the Saguenay, and he 
wonders that he had not felt this before. Then he 
begins to feel that there is an infinity and grandeur, 
a reach of distance, a solemnity of height he had not 
realised. Allow me to improve upon my narrative by 
quoting the vivid description of another, who declares 
that 

by degrees the immensity and majesty assert themselves. As an 
abrupt turn brings the steamer close in ashore, you realise that the 
other bank is a mile away, aye, two miles distant, and that the black 
band at the base of the mountains, which roll away one beyond the 
other, is in truth the shadowed face of a mighty cliff, rising sheer 
from the water's edge, like that which now towers nearly two 
thousand feet above you. There is an indescribable grandeur in 
the very monotony of the interminable succession of precipice and 
gorge, of lofty bluff and deep-hewn bay ; no mere monotony of 
outline, for every bend of the river changes the pictures in the 
majestic panorama of hills, water, and sky, and every rock has its 
individuality ; but the overwhelming reiteration of the same grand 



218 The St. Lawrence River 

theme with infinite variety of detail, till the senses are overpowered 
by the evidences of the mighty force — force which you know, as 
soon as you see those grim masses of syenite split and rent by 
upheaval, seamed and scarred by icebergs, was once suddenly, 
irresistibly active, but has now lain dormant for ages of ages. 
There is the inevitable sternness of the manifestation of great 
power, and this effect is heightened by the transparency of the 
atmosphere, which allows no softening of the clear-cut lines, and 
heightens their bold sweep by intense shadows sharply defined. 
There is no rich foliage ; forest fires have swept and blackened 
the hill-tops ; a scanty growth of sombre firs and slender birches 
replaces the lordly pines that once crowned the heights, and strug- 
gles for a foothold along the sides of the ravines and on the ledges of 
the cliffs, where the naked rock shows through the tops of the trees. 
The rare signs of life only accentuate the lonely stillness. A few 
log-houses on an opportune ledge that overhangs a niche-like cove, 
a shoal of white porpoises gambolling in the current, a sea-gull 
circling overhead, a white sail in the distance, and a wary loon, 
whose mocking call echoes from the rocks, — what are they in the 
face of these hills, that are the children of the mighty landsmith 
whose forge fires have not yet burned out and the stroke of whose 
hammer is still heard at intervals among the hills of the north ! 

We follow sixty miles of this awe-inspiring pas- 
sage — sixty miles of majesty, calm bays, rippling 
currents, giant cliffs cut in solid rock, solitude and 
loneliness, waterfalls veiled in mists that hang over 
them like silver threads, through mountain walls that 
are fit portals to the scenes that lie beyond, vista upon 
vista of country dotted with hamlets, and we are told 
that the bay whose fame we had heard sung before we 
started lies before us. We laugh in our feeling of 
relief from the solitude we have left behind, as the first 
explorers did, and in the echo that comes back from 
the rocky hills, we find its name, " Ha Ha Bay." It 



The Mysterious Saguenay 219 

is nine miles long and six miles wide, in reality an un- 
filled waterway leading from the interior. We see 
ample evidence of this in the rich alluvial deposits. 
Another relic of the past, Lake Kinogama, we are told 
lies about twenty miles to the west, a sullen depth of 
black water extending for fifteen miles, with a width of 
only half a mile and a depth of a thousand feet. 

Ha Ha Bay, quite as appropriately called Grand 
Bay, is really a breathing-place in this vast amphi- 
theatre of mountains, though the gloom of the lower 
regions is not wholly shaken off. As we resume our 
course we realise that the land is made up from 
the deposits of some mighty stream in the past, that 
which we are following being a shadow of its departed 
greatness. The end of steamboat navigation is Chicou- 
timi, which, unlike Tadousac, does not conceal its light 
under a bushel. It stands upon a prominent summit, 
and the tall spire of its church is the first sight to greet 
the eye, as the steamer glides along the smooth river 
above the narrows, where those stern sentinels of the 
waterway, Cap Ouest and Cap Est, look down with 
searching grimness. The name of the town is said to 
be derived from the Cree expression, " Ishkotimew" 
which means " up to here the water is deep." 

Chicoutimi is the great lumber-yard of the north. 
This timber has been brought down chiefly by the 
rapid upper Saguenay, portage roads connecting its 
source, Lake St. John, with the trading posts of the 
Hudson Bay Company. The town presents a pictur- 



220 The St. Lawrence River 

esque appearance. Its cottages are conspicuous for 
their gabled roofs, often covered with birch bark, which 
gives them at a distance a resemblance to stucco-work. 
The yards — and every one has a small plot — are made 
cheerful by several varieties of annuals, asters, larkspurs, 
marigolds, and zinnias, all in their brightest hues, while 
the doors are framed in with climbing bean vines, in 
their floweringf season radiant with crimson blossoms. 

It was here that an adventurous Jesuit missionary 
established a pioneer mission that afterwards became 
a trading post for the Hudson Bay Company, building 
as early as 1670 his chapel of cedar-wood noted for its 
perfume and durability. Fifty years later another was 
built. Both are now covered by mounds of earth, and 
surrounded by a fence to protect them from relic 
hunters. 

The Chicoutimi River turns over its flood to the 
Saguenay, after a descent of nearly five hundred feet 
in seventeen miles. It is the outlet of Lake Kinogama, 
already mentioned. Among the carrying-places at the 
rapids of this turbulent stream is one known as Portage 
de V Enfant, so called in commemoration of the mirac- 
ulous escape of an Indian child that was carried over 
the falls of fifty feet in a canoe without being injured. 

Chicoutimi has its rival in the village of Ste. Anne, 
perched recklessly on an opposite bluff, where it com- 
mands on one hand a long, beautiful view of the 
descending river, on the other looks upward toward its 
source thirty-five miles distant. The rapid stream is 



The Mysterious Saguenay 221 

as large at its starting-point as it is here. Possibly it 
has lost something of its volume in its fretful passage. 

Once the rocky barriers of the Saguenay are passed the 
new-comer finds himself in a country which he had not 
expected, where many prosperous hamlets have sprung 
up, and where there is room for many more — a country 
drained by a network of rivers. Among the gems of 
inland seas, Lake St. John, about forty miles in diam- 
eter and nearly round in shape, is the natural reservoir 
of one of the grandest water systems to be found on 
the continent. This lake is the magnet sought from 
the north-east by the stately Pribonca, the outlet of 
three great ponds ; from the southland, reaching away 
toward Quebec, comes Metabetchouan, with its offer- 
ings from a silvery chain of lakelets ; on the north-west 
winds the Ashuapmouchouan ; from the north, the 
Mistassini draws down its stony descents the great 
volume of Lake Mistassini, as large as Ontario. Until 
recently Lake St. John was embowered in the heart of 
a great wilderness, composed of pines, oaks, and other 
hardy woods forming a band of forest across the con- 
tinent in the same parallel of latitude that strikes the 
upper portion of the State of Washington. If robbed 
of its forest mantle, its forty rivers that feed it, three 
of them as large as its outlet, remain, showing the 
plainer upon the broad plateaux of country for their 
undress. The blue fringe of mountains still lingers in 
the distance, and on its rolling flood repose its purple 
islands. As long as waters run, the dazzling whirlpools 



222 The St. Lawrence River 

that toss milk-white foam high in the air will continue 
to glorify the " grand discharge " at the narrow outlet, 
while over all will float the white veil of Ouiatchouan, 
as this mad stream takes at one leap a fall of three 
hundred feet. 

There are really two Saguenays : the one seen 
under the northern moon and the stars being cold, dark, 
and forbidding ; but the same rocks and clefts, seen 
under the breaking light of a new day, present a milder 
aspect. The crimson of early morning or the gold of 
sunset lights up like oriflambs of grandeur the mighty 
pillars of the square, massive walls, and send down to 
the water's edge legions of dancing sprites in bright 
and orange hues. The unseemly feature to him who 
looks for the sunlight and the glory are the burnt for- 
ests, whose naked yeomanry rattle their skeleton arms, 
while they hover grimly above him like hosts of departed 
greatness, lingering for a time to mourn over nature's 
loss, fit warders of such a region of solitude. 

The climax of this awe-inspiring scenery is reached 
at Trinity Bay, where the stupendous height of Cape 
Trinity frowns down upon the intruder, a bare wall of 
limestone that towers nearly two thousand feet into 
mid-air. Its frowning brows thrust out three hundred 
feet over the water, give the beholder a dread lest it 
tumble upon him. Rent asunder by some far-distant 
glacial power, the great column is really made up of 
three sections so placed that at first sight they look 
like huge steps leading to a mighty flight of stairs, 




OUIATCHOUAN FALLS. 



The Mysterious Saguenay 223 

such a ladder as the ancient Titan, warring here against 
the elements, might be expected to climb in his ascent 
to strive with the gods for a supremacy. 

In marked contrast to this gloomy giant of three in 
one — a Trinity — stands Cape Eternity, within a hund- 
red feet as high as its sombre brother, but clothed in 
a warm vesture from foot to crown, and looking calm 
and peaceful. Wrapped in never-fading vestments 
drawn closely about its huge body, well may it defy 
the storms of this wintry region for all time. 

With what feelings of emotion, and yet something 
akin to relief, the visitor turns from that " region of 
primeval grandeur, where art has done nothing and 
nature everything." In defiance of all training his 
mind will linger over the impressive scene, where the 
massive cliffs have tipped a river upon edge, and where 
solitude reigns supreme. For many days he will not 
be able to rise above the illusion that he is again 
among the rocks and dark waters, a mile and a half 
deep — reaching far below the bed of the St. Law- 
rence — while the steamer sweeps majestically into the 
Bay of Eternity for ever guarded by her twin sentinels 
of rock. 



Chapter XVI 
Up from Tadousac 

The Mission of the Montagnais — Story of the Last Missionary — Riviere du Loup 
— Murray Bay — Giant of Cap aux Corbeaux — Earthquake of 1663 — A Vivid 
Scene — Isle of Hazels — A Legion of Mountains — First Mass in Canada — 
Baie St. Paul — Gouffre — Nature Asleep and Awake. 

TADOUSAC is situated on the lower terrace left 
at the base of the hills when the mighty floods, 
held long in leash above, first opened the gate- 
way for the great inland sea that must have existed 
there. The most conspicuous object is the great hotel, 
that seems to overflow with its summer tourists, made 
more distinct, perhaps, by the setting of dark spruces 
that cover the second bench, with the hills above form- 
ing an oval frame. From the plateau one looks across 
the St. Lawrence, twenty-five miles wide, and as un- 
ruffled as it is possible for a plain of water to be. 
From this, with its distant bank dimly seen through 
the summer haze, dotted faintly with its clustered 
homes, he sees with marked contrast the dark waters of 
the Saguenay reluctantly leaving their deep bed for the 
blue shallows of the greater river. The historic mind 
turns from this pretty picture, pervaded with the wild- 

ness of nature, to the little church standing on the 

224 



Up from Tadousac 225 

site of the bark-roofed hut which served as the mission 
chapel until 1648, when the original church was built, 
and what may be termed one of the most extended 
fields of missionary work in New France was definitely 
entered. Beginning with the romance of thrilling ad- 
ventures, this mission of the Montagnais closed in 1674, 
under circumstances as picturesque as the most vivid 
imagination could conceive. Of course it is repeated 
now as a legend, but no historic incident has stronger 
testimony in regard to its actual occurrence. Pere La 
Brosse is the Jesuit around whose memory clings this 
charming tradition, which the swarthy Montagnais, as 
well as the devout follower of the faith, still love to 
cherish: 

The Father had been working hard all day, as usual, among his 
converts and in the services of the church, and had spent the even- 
ing in pleasant converse with some of the officers of the post. 
Their amazement and incredulity may be imagined when, as he got 
up to go, he bade them good-bye for eternity, and announced that 
at midnight he would be a corpse, adding that the bell of his 
chapel would toll for his passing soul at that hour. He told them 
that if they did not believe him they could go and see for them- 
selves, but begged them not to touch his body. He bade them 
fetch Messire Compain, who would be waiting for them the next 
day at the lower end of Isle aux Coudres, to wrap him in his shroud 
and bury him ; and this they were to do without heeding what the 
weather should be, for he would answer for the safety of those who 
undertook the voyage. The little party, astounded, sat, watch in 
hand, marking the hours pass, till at the first stroke of midnight 
the chapel bell began to toll, and trembling with fear, they rushed 
into the church. There, prostrate before the altar, hands joined in 
prayer, shrouding his face alike from the first glimpse of the valley 
of the shadow of death, and from the dazzling glory of the waiting 
angels, lay Pere La Brosse, dead. What fear and sorrow must have 



226 The St. Lawrence River 

mingled with the pious hopes and tender prayers of those rough 
traders and rougher Indians as, awe-stricken, they kept vigil that 
April night. With sunrise came a violent storm ; but mindful of 
his command and promise, four brave men risked their lives on the 
water. The lashing waves parted to form a calm path for their 
canoe, and wondrously soon they were at Isle aux Coudres. There, 
as had been foretold by Pere La Brosse, was M. Compain waiting 
on the rocks, breviary in hand, and as soon as they were in hearing, 
his shout told them he knew their strange errand. For the night 
before he had been mysteriously warned: the bell of his church was 
tolled at midnight by invisible hands, and a voice had told him 
what had happened and was yet to happen, and had bid him to be 
ready to do his office. In all the missions that Pere La Brosse had 
served, the church bells, it is said, marked that night his dying 
moment. 

On the north shore of the St. Lawrence nobody- 
goes beyond Tadousac, unless he is a salmon-fisher, 
and accounts from the interior of the country come in 
the strain of traditions, vague and visionary. The 
southern shore has more attractions below this point, 
as has been shown, but from Tadousac to Quebec the 
north bank can claim the prize for picturesque wild- 
ness, though the French annalist, Boucher, in his His- 
toire du Canada, wrote in 1663 : 

The country is quite uninhabitable, being too high and all 
rocky, and quite precipitous. I have remarked only one place, 
that is Baie St. Paul, about half way and opposite to Isle aux 
Coudres, which seems very pretty as one passes by, as well as all 
the islands between Tadousac and Quebec, which are fit to be 
inhabited. 

In a marked degree what this veracious historian 

said of the shore nearly two hundred and fifty years ago 

will apply to it now,- with the added presence, here and 

there, of a small hamlet clinging to the foot of the 



Up from Tadousac 227 

precipitous bluffs, rather forcibly proving that the ex- 
ception to the rule does not affect the grand result. 
The boldness of the rocky ramparts thrusting them- 
selves down to the water's edge with a front that 
cannot be scaled could scarcely have presented a wilder 
aspect to the early voyager than it does to the modern 
tourist passing on one of the palatial steamers that ply 
on the river. 

Leaving Tadousac on our upward trip, with L'Anse 
St. Jean on our right, following nearly in the track of 
Cartier, we cross the St. Lawrence to what was then 
the unpeopled site of the present-day lumber port, 
Rivilre du Loup. It is sufficient, perhaps, for the 
reputation of this bustling place that it possesses the 
most magnificent view of the opposite bank to be 
found along the river. The distance lending a beauti- 
ful effect to the rare colouring of the atmosphere, the 
combination is especially happy at the setting of the 
sun, when the soft radiance of its beams falls aslant 
the background of dark-green hills touched with the 
variegated hues of the maple and birch of the lowlands. 

The first place of importance to mention is that 
popular resort for tourists, Murray Bay, the Newport 
of the St. Lawrence, nearly encircled by the beautiful 
Canadian scenery, with the salt breeze fanning its brow 
and the briny surf displaced by the blue tide of the 
inlet at its foot. This place is eighty miles below 
Quebec. From the east of the bay rises into the 
clouds the lofty Cap aux Corbeaux, a name given this 



228 The St. Lawrence River 

peak in the days of the early explorers from the dis- 
mal croakings of the ravens, as they hovered over the 
jagged cliffs and rock-shelves beyond the reach of the 
most nimble climber. Nor are they all gone yet by 
any means, for great numbers still build their nests 
in the inaccessible crags, unfearing the molestation 
of man ; while, finding a precarious existence in the 
stunted growth, browses the caribou, and the bear 
fattens upon the berries afforded by the dwarfed bushes 
clinging to the crevices of rock. 

Like other wild spots, this is the source of many 
legends, such as hang over Blomidon of Nova Scotia. 
Here, as the susceptible habitan believes to this day, 
is the abode of demons, and there is a tradition that in 
the misty years of yore a giant, in some respects like 
Glooscap of Blomidon, held sway until the cross drove 
him farther into the solitude of the land of Ungava. 
He is still angry over his forced abdication of a throne 
he had held so long, and frequently he stamps his great 
foot in his wrath and peals forth his voice in thunder- 
tones, so the entire northern shore is shaken with such 
violence as to terrify the people. This thrilling nar- 
rative is given a touch of truth by the fact that the 
region is subject to periodical shocks of earthquake, 
the worst of which was felt in 1663, when the shaking 
lasted for over six months, and was felt as far south as 
New England. The last shock was in 1870. Accord- 
ing to contemporary accounts, at this time the air was 
dark with smoke and cinders, illuminated ever and 



Up from Tadousac 229 

anon with meteors. Vegetation dried up, and nothing 
grew that year. Ferland, in describing this, says in part : 

New lakes were formed, hills were lowered, falls were levelled, 
small streams disappeared, great forests were overturned. From 
Cap Tourmente to Tadousac the appearance of the shore was 
greatly altered in several localities. Near Baie St. Paul an isolated 
hill, about a quarter of a league in circumference, descended be- 
low the waters, and emerged to form an island. Towards Pointe 
aux Alouettes a great wood was detached from the solid ground, 
and slipped over the rocks into the river, where for some time the 
trees remained upright, raising their verdant crests above the water. 

As many as ten severe shocks have been recorded 
since the first voyager came up the river. In the fast- 
ness of the broken interior at the upper end of the val- 
ley is pointed out the place where the inhabitants living 
toward Quebec found concealment from the soldiers 
of Wolfe's army at the time of his campaign in 1 759. 
Many of these came from the Isle aux Coudres, which 
name was given it by Cartier from the abundance of 
hazel trees growing there at the time of his voyage. 
This is one of the oldest French settlements, and it 
was here that Admiral Durell's squadron waited two 
months for the coming of the rest of Wolfe's army, the 
inhabitants fleeing to the mountains, as described. It 
is said two of Montcalm's scouts swam the river at 
night, captured two English officers, one a grandson 
of the admiral, and took them to Quebec. 

The Breton, upon arriving at the island of hazels, 
found the natives busy catching porpoises, and this 
industry of the simple natives was taken up by the 



230 The St. Lawrence River 

Seminarists of Quebec one hundred and fifty years 
later, and from that time has become the permanent 
employment of the seigneurs during the season. It is 
recorded that as many as three hundred and twenty 
have been captured at the incoming of a tide. When 
it is considered that each porpoise yields over a barrel 
of oil, and that its skin is valuable for leather, it can 
be seen that this occupation was decidedly lucrative. 
Soon individuals and companies contended for exclu- 
sive rights to carry on the fishery. The method em- 
ployed was exceedingly simple and effective. It was 
simply to drive rows of saplings long enough to reach 
above high water into the shelving beach from the 
extremes of high and low water, each end stopping with 
a spiral curve so as to form a half circle. The por- 
poises coming with the tide in pursuit of shoals of small 
fishes, smelts and herrings, that keep close to the shore, 
unwittingly passed within the trap set for them. Upon 
seeking to return they found themselves confronted by 
this curved line of poles, and frightened in their efforts 
to find an escape, swam along the swaying barrier, 
which served to add to their frenzy, until, coming to the 
twist at its end, they were turned back over their course. 
Repeated attempts of this kind finally so distracted 
them that they gave up in despair, to be left high and 
dry by the ebbing tide. Then they became easy vic- 
tims to the murderous assaults of the fishermen. The 
hapless victims died without defence, the female sacri- 
ficing her own life in a vain effort to save her young, 



Up from Tadousac 231 

displaying most pathetic examples of maternal devotion 
unto death. 

This isle, with a population of between seven and 
eight hundred, two persons out of three being church 
communicants, has the distinction of being the place on 
the St. Lawrence where mass was first celebrated. 

With a legion of mountains in the background, we 
are overlooked by the frowning Les Eboulements, here 
marshalling, as of yore, the rocky host and bidding de- 
fiance to the combined forces of nature and man. It is 
not difficult to picture to the mind's eye something of 
the terrific battle waged in the days when the earth was 
young between these giants, whose broken and scarred 
veterans remain as eternal warders of the battlefield. 
From the summit one looks down upon fertile valleys 
set with white villages, and buttressed by the mountains. 
The placid river is unrolled like an endless ribbon from 
a mighty spool, the distant shore mirrored in trans- 
parent clouds, jewelled with stars as the sun-rays play 
upon the pointed spires of its churches. In the centre 
of this beautiful vista lies Isle aux Coudres, fairer, 
brighter, younger, than it appeared on that auspicious 
September morning, in 1535, when 

De Saint Malo, beau port de Mer, 
Trois grands navires sont arrives, 

and the Grande Herf/iine, the Petite Her mine, and the Emerillon 
swung to their anchors in the bay behind the little promontories 
that jut out near the western end of the island. One can almost 
imagine that the sweet and solemn strains of the Mass which Dom 
Antoine and Dom Guillaume le Breton offered for the first time on 



232 The St Lawrence River 

Canadian soil, and the fervent responses of Jacques Cartier and his 
men are borne across the water. But it is evening, and the soft 
sounds we hear are the chimes of the Angelus from the churches in 
the valleys. 

Boucher, whom I have already quoted, in writing 
twenty years later says that two settlements have been 
founded in this wild district, " that of Baie St. Paul 
being the first inhabited land to be met with on the 
north shore as you come from France." It contained 
only three brave families then, and a population of only 
thirty-one souls. If it has grown slowly since, the river 
more rapidly has been robbing it of its fertile soil, year 
by year, until to-day it is little more than a cleft in the 
rocks through which a furious mountain torrent dashes 
over rocky shoals where stood the dwellings of the 
earliest inhabitants mentioned by the historian. As if 
one spite was not sufficient for nature to have against 
a place, Baie St. Paul was the scene, some years since, 
of severe earthquake shocks. This parish suffered at 
the hands of Captain Gorham's soldiers during the raid 
of 1759, when all the villages as far down as Murray 
Bay on the north bank were ravaged. 

In juxtaposition to Baie St. Paul is the delightful 
retreat of Gouffre, with its groves of birch, maple, and 
hazel, and arbours of spruce and cedar, its pebbly shores, 
its clusters of bright cottages ; the whole sanctified by 
the little church, whose spire mingles with the tree-tops 
like a golden star upon a field of green. A marked 
tranquillity of peacefulness and contentment rests upon 
all, as if here was one spot where troubles cease from 



Up from Tadousac 233 

vexing and the soul is free from doubt. As it is with 
man so it is with nature. The rugged heights melt in 
the distance into a soft liquid blue and grey mingling, 
while the nearer cliffs, seamed and scarred by many 
fissures and jagged points, are relieved by silvery bands 
of crystal water hanging like tremulous drapery over 
the brink of the precipice. Anon, plunging desperately 
down the descent, a subdued cry of triumph comes up 
from below, as if the tumbling waters would proclaim 
to the world the daring feat they had performed. 
Disappearing then with a parting shout of glee, appar- 
ently lost to sight for ever, they as suddenly and merrily 
reappear upon the vision, brighter than before if that 
were possible, ready to leap another chasm as fearless 
as if it had not taken a hundred just such plunges in its 
wild journey to the great river that seems to linger here 
to catch in its arms these runaway naiads of ravine and 
forest. The murmur of many of these streams falls 
upon the ear like the subdued strains of sacred music, 
while the sweet aroma of field and forest perfumes with 
an indescribable sweetness the miles of entrancing land- 
scape and sympathetic river. But those who have 
braved its wintry fastness tell me it is not always so calm 
and peaceful at Gouffre. There comes a time when 

melting ice and heavy rains swell these mountain streams chafing 
at the long restraint the mountains have imposed upon them, until 
they fret and tear at the flanks of the hills, and uncover the secrets 
of the prehistoric world. Rocks, trees, and bridges are swept into 
the turbid flood of the Gouffre, which, raging like a demon un- 
chained, destroys everything that impedes its headlong course. 



Chapter XVII 
Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 

Where Art and Nature Meet — a Climax in Mountains — the Island of Sorrow — 
Legend of Crane Island — Chateau Le Grande — Prisoner of the Jealous 
Wife — Cartier's Isle of Bacchus — Ancient Petit Cap — Divine Ste. Anne 
— Canadian Mecca — Story of the Saint — A Bird's-Eye View of Beauport — 
Falls of Montmorency. 

A BOVE Tadousac the northern shore is bounded 
/ % by a rocky ridge that comes so close to the 
1 V water's edge for miles at a stretch as to rise a 
sheer precipice into the air. Something of the impres- 
sive wildness and majesty of the Ichang Gorge of 
China's great river is recalled. Only one thing is lack- 
ing to remind us of the Highlands of the Hudson, and 
that is the fact that everything here is on a mightier 
scale — the great breadth of water-scene robbing the 
banks of their impressiveness. Bring these walls into 
closer companionship and the result would amaze the 
beholder. At Cap Tourmente a climax in the mount- 
ain range is reached. The rounded summit of the 
Laurentides come into plainer view, and Mont Ste. 
Anne stands out in bold relief, deserted, it would seem, 
by her sister heights, who slowly retreat to make room 
for the surprise they have planned a little farther up 
the broken way. 

234 



Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 235 

Where the river begins to narrow, among the many- 
island gems that repose upon its peaceful bosom, is a 
jewel known as lie de Grosse, with no apparent evidence 
in sight of the grewsome history thrust upon it by a 
stern necessity that knows no sentiment in its devotion to 
duty. When the accommodations upon the ships during 
their long passage over from the Old World were such 
as to advance disease and death, this island was made 
a quarantine station for the immigrants. Here, in the 
year 1847 alone, as many as seven thousand, through 
fever and cholera, found an end to their bright dreams 
of homes in a new country. But when we come to 
think of it, others have scarcely less happy records, for 
among all of the fair isles of the lower St. Lawrence, 
so fragrant with innocence, not one but has its dark 
tale of human misery, some story of treachery and mas- 
sacre, wherein is preserved the memory of life's un- 
fortunate sons and daughters. 

About thirty miles below Quebec lies a little group 
of islands in mid-river, the largest of which is known 
as Crane's Island. Over this lingers a goodly share of 
romantic memories of that day now fruitful of legends. 
The very atmosphere seems to breathe this, and the 
shimmer of the sunlight, as it quivers over rock 
and grassy slope, until it finally rests upon the highest 
point of land, pictures it upon the imagination of the 
beholder. 

"Looking upon the ruins of Chateau Le Grande?" 
breaks upon our meditation a voice at our elbow. 



236 The St. Lawrence River 

" That has gone the way of mortals," the speaker, an 
old river-man, continues, "though it was only in the 
eighteenth century it was raised as the monument of a 
woman's whim." Of course it was a love romance, and 
if short it compassed the happiness of two rivals. The 
hero, for I suppose he must be considered such, was a 
gay courtier of the social circles of Old France. His wife 
was handsome, pure, and true, but of a temperament 
that brooked no oppositon to her slightest wish, and 
secured little happiness to her lover or to herself. Up- 
braiding him one day for his freeness in the presence of 
Court beauties, he proposed a compact with her, which 
she quickly accepted. This was nothing less than for 
them to build a home near the capital of the then 
famous New France, and there live exclusively in each 
other's society. In such a place there could be no an- 
ticipation of jealousy or family discord. 

The site chosen was Crane's Island. The feathered 
denizens, which had held here their right of domain for 
ages, were frightened from their old rendezvous by the 
sound of the hammer of civilisation, and they speedily 
retreated before the aggressor. On yon summit rose 
directly a fine residence of the provincial architecture 
of the times, and to this wild, lonely retreat in the 
heart of the island Le Grande transported his young 
and beautiful wife. Happy months followed, winging 
themselves all too swiftly into years, the self-exiled 
couple finding delight in the picturesque surroundings. 
Both loved nature, and they saw here much to admire, 



Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 237 

for no more lovely and entrancing scene was to be found 
in the New World. Nor was there the monotony 
one might have expected in this isolation. The scene 
seemed to change day by day. Now the landscape 
looked fresh and innocent as some coy maid in its man- 
tle of spring newness ; anon it blossomed as the rose ; 
grew grey and brown under the autumn sun ; took on 
a brightness given it by the brush of the frost-king ; 
and then fell asleep under the virgin robes of winter, 
looking fairer, purer than ever before. There were no 
two days alike, and each was unto them a poem written in 
the sweet language of love and filled with the inspira- 
tion of immortality. The birds, finding here kindred 
spirits of affinity, returned slyly to their old-time haunts, 
singing merrier than ever before. At intervals, some 
weather-beaten vessel, a messenger from the outside 
world, would come up the river, flying in the ambient 
breeze the beloved fleur-de-lis of their homeland. 

The fairest sky must some time become flecked by a 
cloud. Even into the sweet contentment of this life 
came a shadow, and it was the shadow of a smile. 
While their lives had flowed on silently, quietly, hap- 
pily, Madame Le Grande had become aware of the pain- 
ful fact that a gay life had sprung up close by them, 
transforming, as it seemed to her vivid mind, this wilder- 
ness into Paris. Not alone at Quebec had this free 
spirit of gaiety entered into the every-day conduct of 
her inhabitants, but into the lives of the smaller towns 
and Indian villages something of this freeness and 



238 The St. Lawrence River 

indifference to decorum had also come. Le Grande was 
now often away from the company of his suspicious wife. 
It is true he made liberal and plausible excuses for be- 
ing absent so much, but it dawned upon her that these 
were more profuse than an honest purpose demanded. 
Affairs went on in this manner, until frequently his 
boat did not return from over the river till an early 
hour of morning. She said nothing, but bided her 
time. This came but too soon for her peace of mind 
and his happiness. It usually does when a woman 
waits. 

Making some trivial excuse to her as the reason for 
being away for the evening, Le Grande left the chateau 
one summer day just as the westering sun was kissing 
the mountains on the farther view good-night, and 
rowed over the water to the opposite shore. She had 
been told by one of her secret spies that the Indians, 
a few miles above, were holding a dance that would last 
until late into the night. Throwing over her shapely 
shoulders a thick dark cloak, though the weather was 
warm, she followed in his course, until she reached one 
of those hamlets where a mixed population of French 
and Indian prevailed. She soon found her informant 
had not been mistaken. One of those wild, pantomimic 
dances, for which the Indians were famous, was in the 
midst of its dizzy, bewildering pleasure. Ay, at the 
moment she paused by the edge of the timber bordering 
the sequestered spot, Le Grande, her husband, who had 
sworn upon his sword and the crucifix to be ever faith- 



Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 239 

ful to her, was then leading forward to the dance a 
beautiful dusky belle ! She did not stop to listen to 
the music, or dwell upon the surprise she was to cre- 
ate. Like a shadow her tall and regal figure glided 
forward and stood beside her faithless husband. 

What she said to him no one ever knew. In fact, 
the poor Indians fled at sight of her supernatural figure, 
thinking it was some evil spirit angry with them for 
their sport. Le Grande dropped the arm of the dark- 
hued beauty hanging upon him for support, and fol- 
lowed his wife. The return to the chateau was made 
in silence, so far as is known. Once there, she is re- 
ported to have turned upon him with a steely glitter in 
her dark eyes, saying : 

" Is this proof of your fidelity to me ? Was it for 
this you brought me to this lonely spot ? You made a 
vow then to grant me any demand I might ask if you 
proved recreant to your pledge. Are you ready to 
fulfil your promise?" 

" Name it," he said simply. 

"You are never to leave this island again while you 
live." 

He bowed his head in silence, and from that day 
Seigneur Le Grande was never seen away from the 
chateau, which suddenly lost its erstwhile cheerful- 
ness, while silence reigned where formerly was life and 
vivacity. At last there came a day when Madame 
Le Grande engaged passage to France on a home- 
ward-bound ship, when it was known that her doubly 



240 The St. Lawrence River 

unfortunate husband had been released from his im- 
prisonment and the tyranny of a woman's love by that 
grim freeman, Death. She was never heard of after- 
wards in Quebec, though it was rumoured that she 
had taken the veil. The chateau long since crumbled 
to dust, there being no one to preserve its glory. 

Another island to claim our interest is the Isle of 
Bacchus, as Cartier christened it in 1535, on account 
of its great profusion of vines and grapes. Later, in 
honour of the Duke of Orleans, the son of Francis I., it 
received its modern name of Isle of Orleans. Between 
the two, for a long period, it was known among the 
pioneers as " Wizards' Isle," under the belief that the 
Indians who inhabited the place were in such close 
touch with nature as to be able to predict with certainty 
the coming of a storm or high tide. For a long time 
it was claimed that during the nights phantom lights 
played over the land and water, and the white inhabit- 
ants became alarmed, until it was found that the " spirit 
lights " were torches in the hands of dusky fishermen 
moving swiftly and silently to and fro in their canoes. 
Even then, so strong a hold had the spell thrown over 
the island by the uncanny stories that had been told, 
there were many who still whispered by the fireside of 
grotesque midnight dances by lamps that no mortal 
hands lighted. Very peaceful and innocent of super- 
natural deeds rests the beautiful island to-day under the 
benign influence of modern civilisation. 

Coming up the river and approaching the Isle of 



Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 241 

Orleans our gaze becomes attracted by a bluff that is 
the site of the ancient church of St. Francois. In the 
distance the Laurentian hills fretwork the horizon, from 
among whose pinnacled tops stands out in bold relief 
one at the base of which stood the little stone chapel 
that was the centre of attraction for one of the oldest 
settlements in Canada, Petit Cap. Hither fled the 
remnant of Christian Indians in the days of the mis- 
sionaries and warfare with the Iroquois. It was here 
they listened with the devout priests to the sweet-toned 
sacred vespers, whose soft music floated swiftly, sadly, 
across the rolling river on the wings of the wind 
to the dusky warriors skulking in the depths of the 
forest, but with enough of their native stamina left to 
refuse to sell their birthright for a bumper of French 
rum, or a few gaudy trinkets, if less harmful, quite as 
worthless. What a panorama of wilderness overhung 
the scene upon that day ! 

A hundred years later, and this was the scene of 
the attack of the brawny Highlanders upon the allied 
French and Hurons. The village then known under 
the more divine name of Sainte Anne, suffered sorely 
on this occasion. Every other building in the hamlet 
was burned, save the little church, which defied the in- 
vaders' torch, and remained a sacred shrine to many 
pilgrims in the years to come. When war's red flame 
had burned out, the town was rebuilt, and to-day the 
picturesque little community exists as a living example 

of the Roman Catholics' faith and work in Canada, one 

16 



242 The St. Lawrence River 

of the oldest, if not the oldest, altar of worship in the 
St. Lawrence valley. What stories cluster about the 
venerated place ! What memories cling to its shrines ! 
What voices come in subdued whispers of that far-away 
past in which it was founded ! What changes it has 
outlived ! That pagan race, to whom it was originally 
consecrated, and in whose welfare so many of the faith- 
ful brotherhood laboured, loved, and lost during the 
long years of missionary work, have passed away, until 
only a handful remain to fan the embers of departed 
lordship. The far-reaching forests have also disap- 
peared, and on the hill-tops and on the plains have 
risen the homes of a prosperous people. This has 
not been the fulfilment of the old dream of French 
colonisation, but the upbuilding of a rival race. The 
scheme of the ambitious Richelieu to found a French 
empire in America proved a delusion under his system 
of development. It has been truthfully said that 

when he excluded the Huguenots from France and her colonies, 
he was doing as much as possible to add to the wealth of the Pro- 
testants of Europe and to the prosperity of the Puritans of New 
England, and one of the results of his policy was to be the per- 
petuation of the very heresy he hated. 

The old church built in 1660 at Ste. Anne de 
Beaupre was taken down some years since, it having 
been declared unsafe. On its site was erected a mod- 
ern and more pretentious building, but one that lacks 
the ancient interest of the other. It is true you will 
be told that the interior is of the same finish, and 




a 



Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 243 

the double bell-tower that surmounts it is the same 
that did service for the original ; but the rose window, 
the plain facade, the Norman door, the air of a gen- 
eration long-since departed are missing, and we find 
ourselves entering what seems to us a commonplace 
structure, lacking that air of deep sanctity which belongs 
to the old. 

Through all the changes of the years, the subor- 
dination of the native race, and the ascendency of the 
English over the French, the shrine of Ste. Anne was 
left in peace and repose, until it was suddenly revealed 
in the nineteenth century, under the revivified belief of 
an old creed, that the relics of a dead saint were more 
powerful to save the living than all other powers. The 
incredible is always the swiftest of wing, and it was 
only a brief time before pious pilgrimages were begun 
to this early outpost of Quebec, which under the old 
regime was the soul of New France, just as Kyoto was 
the soul of Old Japan. And to-day, in fewer numbers, 
which increase year by year, there are made to this 
Canadian Megca pious pilgrimages like those once made 
to a Saviour's grave in the Holy Land, and those which 
are now annually performed in Japan, when thousands 
wend their way along the noble old road under the 
lofty cryptomerias leading to the templed hills of 
Nikko. 

Ste. Anne is the patron saint of Canada. Where- 
ever one goes he is pretty sure to stumble upon a 
shrine in which tapers are kept burning, and which is 



244 The St. Lawrence River 

dedicated to the memory of this virtuous person. A 
question naturally arises in regard to the history of 
this omnipresent patron more often appealed to by the 
ancient voyageurs than all others, and whose influence 
is so marked at this day as to call for comment. Tra- 
dition, which is ever bold where history is shy, says she 
was the mother of the Virgin Mary, and a daughter of 
the house of David. Her sepulchre is in Jerusalem, 
but you will be shown in a little glass case what are 
claimed to be her bones. Are you curious to know 
how they reached this little niche of the world ? Tra- 
dition never yet builded a structure it was not able to 
clothe in proper attire. It does not fail in this case. 
When the infidels destroyed the monuments of the 
Holy Land, one casket was found that would neither 
burn nor open. In their rage the despoilers flung 
it into the sea, upon the bosom of which it was car- 
ried to the shores of Provence. There it was washed 
ashore, and lay, it is supposed, for a long period em- 
bedded in the sand. Finally, a big fish struggling in 
the captivity of some fishermen scooped out a deep 
hole in the sand, at the bottom of which this casket was 
disclosed. But the reverent men of Apt could succeed 
no better than the infidels of Jerusalem in opening the 
coffin, and believing it was not to be done by mortals 
they placed it in a vault, and had the walls hermetically 
sealed. Here the casket rested undisturbed for over 
seven hundred years. Then Charlemagne had his at- 
tention attracted to it by a boy, blind, deaf, and dumb. 



Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 245 

How he came by his information the conqueror did not 
stop to ask, but upon removing the wall he discovered 
the casket. From this place, for some unknown reason, 
it was taken to the little town of Carnac, in Brittany, 
where it was entombed, and the place became famous 
as the shrine of Ste. Anne d'Auray. Once more the 
sacred bones were removed,- this time by an over-zealous 
believer, who started with them to America. After a 
stormy passage over the Atlantic they found repose 
here at Ste. Anne de Beaupre. 

This church dates its origin from 1658, in which a 
habitan gave the land for its site, and the French gov- 
ernor laid its foundation-stone. On that very day its 
miracles began. A peasant afflicted with a severe pain 
in his loins, while in the midst of assisting in the good 
work, was suddenly relieved of his suffering. Another 
with a lame limb recovered its use immediately. A 
blind man was restored to his sight when he turned his 
sightless orbs on the sacred place. Another who had 
not been able to speak aloud for years found his speech, 
and it is needless to say, perhaps, spent much of his 
time afterwards in sounding the praises of this saint. 
A pious woman, upon hearing of the remarkable cures 
of those who had visited the shrine, invoked the bless- 
ing of the saint, when she was cured of the disease 
which had bent her nearly double. 

Then miracle after miracle followed, until the sleepy little 
hollow was the talk of all New France. Soldiers, as they paced 
their beat on the fort, looked down the river as if they expected to 



246 The St. Lawrence River 

see a vision. The peasantry grouped together in large family- 
circles, just as they love to do to-day, and as the big logs crackled 
in the great fireplace, some one who had been to the shrine re- 
counted his experiences and gave free rein to his imagination, while 
all piously crossed themselves when he had concluded. Pilgrims 
flocked to the New World wonder on the St. Lawrence, and during 
the seventeenth century there were never less than a thousand on 
the feast day of Ste. Anne. At all seasons of the year, individual 
pilgrims were seen going afoot along the Cdte de Beaupre, and in 
winter in their sleighs on the frozen river. The Micmac Indians 
came regularly from New Brunswick for trade, and before feast 
days their canoes were seen coming up the stream to the shrine, 
where they built birch-bark huts to shelter the pilgrims. In fact, 
the whole country was excited by the mystery, and many churches 
were built in honour of the saint. It was a regular custom of vessels 
ascending the St. Lawrence to fire a broadside salute when passing 
the place. . . . We, who live in this age of electricity, and who 
affect to be beyond astonishment, but gape at every new sensation as 
if the world was yet in its teens, may imagine the thrill of wonder 
which would run through the minds of the simple peasantry, and 
the superstitious voyageurs, when the miracles were told. 

For a time the virtues of this Canadian Mecca 
seemed to wane, but the pendulum that swings out 
must return, and again Ste. Anne is enjoying her 
sacred rights with an ever-increasing following, as wit- 
nessed in the silent but eloquent tokens heaped high 
at her door by those who have come crippled and gone 
away with light steps and lighter hearts ; as witnessed 
by the constant praise sung in her name and the long 
train who come and go with believing minds. 

Leaving this dreamy picture behind the village of 
Beauport, with its historical memories rising vividly 
before us, there flashes on our sight a cluster of pic- 
turesque cottages, above which rises the ever-present 



Between Cap Tourmente and Beauport 247 

companion of these rural hamlets, a church with twin 
spires. In the distance, set in a frame of pine and 
hemlocks, with white birches peeping out between, the 
background is veiled by the yellow curtain of Mont- 
morency Falls. Resting on pillars of fragile buoyancy 
that forever tremble but never tumble, the bended 
sheet of river, fifty feet in width, drops a sheer descent 
of 220 feet, and without ado, as if it had done nothing 
uncommon, glides down to meet the St. Lawrence. 
The charm of this delightful waterfall does not lie in 
the depth or the volume of the cataract, but rather in 
the transparency of its flood which looks like a silver foil 
laid lightly over the grey rock, and worn so thin by 
constant friction that its delicate tissues seem about to 
break asunder. It is not less beautiful in winter than 
in summer, and after flinging its mists over tree and 
shrub, it glistens in the sunbeams like a mine of 
diamonds. 



Chapter XVIII 
Picturesque Quebec 

A Peopled Cliff — The Lower Town — A Spiral Street — Cape Diamond — The Cita- 
del — A Relic of Bunker Hill — Rare Panorama of Country — Memorable Trip 
of Major Fitzgerald — His Unhappy Love Romance — "Ribbon Farms" — 
Scene of Cartier's "White Winter" — Two Acres of Clover, Daisies, and 
Buttercups — Road toCharlesbourg — Chateau de Beaumanoir — Ruins, Flowers, 
and Vines — Historic Names — Story of the Acadian Maid — Old Fortress — Its 
Secret Passage — Plains of Abraham. 

THE scenes briefly sketched, with many more as 
deserving of mention, pass successively in re- 
view, and then Quebec, the soul of " Our Lady 
of the Snow," breaks upon the vision. Gone in a 
moment are the pictures, but not the memories, of the 
lower river. Now the grand and beautiful blend in a 
harmony that is never forgotten. Above the river 
rises a massive wall of rock over three hundred feet in 
height, and bidding defiance to the world. " Qzte bee ! " 
(" What a beak ! ") exclaimed one of Cartier's followers, 
and the name has clung to it ever since. That alone 
has remained unchanged. It is now a cliff populated ; 
an unassorted mass of rocks, roofs, ramparts, fortified 
walls, pointed spires, and ominous muzzles of guns more 
curious than dangerous. Gone are the ancient walnuts ; 
varnished are the shades that peopled them. Yet 

to-day the scene is picturesque — Canadian— yesterday 

248 




CAPE DIAMOND, SHOWING TABLET TO THE MEMORY OF MONTGOMERY. 
From a photograph hy Livernois, Quebec. 



Picturesque Quebec 249 

framed in the present. The keen-sighted Thoreau ex- 
claimed, in describing the scenery about Quebec : 

The fortifications of Cape Diamond are omnipresent. They 
preside, they frown over the river and the surrounding country. 
You travel ten, twenty, thirty miles up or down the river's banks, 
you ramble fifteen miles amid the hills on either side, and then, 
when you have long since forgotten them, perchance slept on them 
by the way, at a turn of the road or of your body, there they are 
still, with their geometry against the sky. 

Cape Diamond, which, by the way, somewhat re- 
minds us of another promontory by that name in mid- 
Pacific, is a rock-wedge, composed of grey granite 
mixed with quartz and a species of dark-coloured slate, 
thrust down between the St. Lawrence and St. Charles 
rivers. Something of its rugged grimness is softened 
by patches of shrubs that somehow find sustenance 
on its Roman features, giving it the appearance of a 
bearded Titan. 

At the base of this huge bulwark, forming the 
" Gibraltar of America," lies the " Lower Town," with 
its narrow streets, its weather-stained dwellings, its 
warehouses, breathless life, bustle, and confusion, flanked 
by the stone stairways leading to sunlight and the rare- 
fied atmosphere above, and fronted by the river piers, 
harbour, and a mixed collection of water-craft. Here 
exist the bone and sinew of the city. This lower section 
has been compared to some parts of Edinburgh. It is 
connected with the " Upper Town " by Cdte de la 
Montague, or Mountain Street, which, until within thirty 
or forty years, has not been passable for carriages. 



250 The St. Lawrence River 

Leaving this spiral street, up which have climbed so 
many in the past, not a few of whom were burdened 
with cares and responsibilities greater than the fate of 
their own lives, to the teams and the pedestrians, we 
follow along the narrow street running under the frown- 
ing cliff. What if the way is narrow, and the houses 
claim so much ! Every foot of this earth has been a 
gift from the river — a precious gift, with that crouching 
rock looking jealously down upon it. It must have 
been just below this spot where Donnacona and his 
dusky followers pushed out in their canoes to greet 
Cartier on his first visit. It was somewhere close 
by that weather-beaten building that Champlain, with 
his own hand, felled the first walnut tree preparatory to 
founding his capital of New France. Up that zigzag 
pathway climbed Montgomery, with the snow blinding 
his eyes, to his inevitable fate. 

We ascend to the summit of the rocky bulwark by 
the wooden stairway, counting one hundred and sixty- 
four steps, and are glad there is not another. 

The bold promontory upon which we now stand em- 
braces an area of about forty acres. The most strik- 
ing feature is naturally the citadel, with its continuous 
granite wall running along the very brow of the height, 
flanked with towers and bastions commanding both the 
St. Lawrence and the St. Charles rivers. The new- 
comer cannot be other than impressed with the solid 
appearance of this wall, built before the independence 
of America was won. 



Picturesque Quebec 251 

The citadel has been so often described that another 
detailed account would seem superfluous. But its lofty- 
situation, if nothing else, demands attention, and gives 
to the visitor one of the finest prospects to be found in 
any land. The "boys" about the barracks are light- 
hearted and care-free, though life here, with its steady 
round of duty, has its monotony. Among the objects 
of curiosity pointed out to the sight-seer, is a brass 
piece the British captured from the New England 
troops at Bunker Hill. It does not look very formida- 
ble, and a strong man might carry it off under his arm. 

The view from this historic lookout is one of im- 
pressive interest, varied in its diversity of scenery and 
grand in its effect. The St. Lawrence, majestic and 
magnificent as ever, unfolds its broad band of glistening 
water, over which craft of every kind, from the birch 
skiff of the dusky native to the palace steamer of tourist 
travel, lend motion and vivacity to the picture, and 
speak not only of the present but of the past when the 
aborigines were lords of the wilderness. Midway, in 
the stream below, lies the Isle of Orleans in plain view, 
while across the river rises Point Levis, rivalling but 
not equalling Cape Diamond in its bold front, breasting 
the water like a lion crouching at bay. Beyond this 
height, which is the site of a populous community, 
stretches a country noted for its beauty and tranquillity 
of surface. Unconsciously the mind is carried back to 
the day when this was an unpeopled wilderness, and to 
that wintry journey made on snow-shoes through its 



252 The St. Lawrence River 

trackless depths from Frederickton to Quebec, a dis- 
tance of 175 miles, by Major Fitzgerald, soon after the 
closing act of the American Revolution. He had been 
an officer under Lord Rawdon, and served with dis- 
tinction at Eutaw Springs, where he was wounded. 
Upon reaching Quebec with his message, without stop- 
ping to recuperate he continued into the western 
country, guided now by his staunch friend, Brant. Pro- 
ceeding to Michilimackinac, and then reaching the 
Mississippi, he followed down the river to New Orleans. 
From there he hastened home to greet the loved one 
who he fondly believed was awaiting anxiously his 
return. Alas ! for man's dreams and woman's forget- 
fulness, he was met at her father's door by the faithless 
sweetheart and — her husband ! Crushed by the blow, 
he rejoined the army, to fall a martyr to the cause of 
Ireland a few years later. He was more fortunate in 
having the eloquent Tom Moore for his biographer, 
the latter himself visiting, in 1804, a portion of the 
country traversed by his friend, giving a memorial of 
his trip in his immortal Canadian Boat-Song and other 
poems of the St. Lawrence. 

Slowly the eye" continues to follow the great river 
winding sluggishly through the valley, bounded on the 
south by the distant backbone of the Appalachian 
Mountains whose far slopes reach down to the shores of 
ancient Vinland, and on the north by the Laurentides, 
the oldest mountains known to geologists, looming 
peak beyond peak, until lost to shape and sight in the 



Picturesque Quebec 253 

distance, and where the vision stops the imagination 
carries the fancy forward to the vast wilderness sweep- 
ing on in majestic silence to the frozen pole. 

Looking over the gabled roofs and dormer windows, 
the minarets of the naval academy, and the spires of 
the churches, with here and there a glimpse of some 
narrow street winding upward until, as if tired of the 
attempt to reach the top, it had tumbled back to lie 
crumbled and distorted amid the debris of streets and 
buildings and rocks, a vivid picture is gained of the 
Lower Town. Quebec, as it is the only walled city in 
America, is possibly less American than any city north 
of Mexico. It certainly appeals to the new-comer as no 
other American city does, and he goes away with that 
impression strengthened. While it may not be able 
to boast the ancient castles of a Hamburg or a Hei- 
delberg, with the moss upon its grey walls, the lichens 
upon its battlements, the slimy moats around its citadel, 
the legends of a day that may never have been, it has a 
suggestion of medisevalism older than the Middle Ages 
and rendered more attractive on account of its modern 
setting. It requires no imagination to be made to be- 
lieve that the town at your feet is a corner of Old 
France, and that the rock beneath them is older than 
Europe ! 

As the gaze roams northward from the rounded 
shoulder of the Isle of Orleans, beautiful and filled with 
memories, it rests upon the long street of Beauport, 
where the landscape is adorned with metal-covered 



254 The St. Lawrence River 

cottages, whose heavy roofs, like bats' wings, reach down 
to shelter the unrailed verandas, Old-World features 
of some Swiss village or corner in Brittany. The sim- 
ple dress of the people, their quaint speech, their pict- 
uresque manner, each help to complete the suggestion. 
The roads around Quebec are well kept, while the 
plank sidewalks add to the pleasure of the tourist who 
chooses to go amid these scenes on foot. Down on 
the flat, within sight and sound of the Falls of Mont- 
morency, the combined French and Indian forces ral- 
lied to beat back that adventure-mad New Englander, 
Phips, who thought to surprise the northern eagle in 
his eyrie. And there, too, was fought the prelude 
to Wolfe's far-reaching victory upon the Plains of 
Abraham. 

Farther away, edged by the rounded horizon, lies 
what looks like a fine agricultural country, with its 
" ribbon farms," low- walled cottages, and green fields 
white-starred with daisies. To the west of these winds 
down from the interior the St. Charles, the river of ro- 
mance. At its mouth Cartier moored his briny cara- 
vels, and a little higher up he went into camp for that 
long, tedious "white winter." A monument to his 
memory now marks the place. Just across the river, 
upon the intervale farms that lie between the stream 
and the road running northward, leading to the ruins 
of Beaumanoir, we saw, only a few days since, one of 
nature's most beautiful flower-gardens, two acres of 
crimson clover, star-eyed daisies, and yellow buttercups, 




THE BREAK-NECK STEPS, QUEBEC. 



Picturesque Quebec 255 

the three standing evenly shoulder to shoulder. Never 
did colours blend more happily, and never was sweeter 
fragrance wafted on the amorous breeze of June. Here 
was a flower for each conquest of Canada, and the 
brightest was the last. 

Following up this delightful road bordered with 
white dasies and that fleur-de-lis of Canadian flowers, 
the buttercup, some five miles from the Dorchester 
bridge spanning the St. Charles, reposes to-day, under 
the shadows of Charlesbourg Mountain, a pile of ru- 
ins called by the English " The Hermitage "; by the 
French, " The Mansion of the Mountain." In the days 
of its glory it was more poetically known as Beau- 
manoir, and it was here that the infamous Bigot, with 
his boon companions, held his secret councils and car- 
ousals to the shame of New France, and which more 
than all else led to her downfall. In those days noble 
old forests composed of giant oaks, whose seamed and 
weather-beaten bodies showed ample proof of long 
lives ; lofty elms, with wide-spreading tops that tipped 
their tapering branches with becoming grace ; dark pines 
that wore for ever a frown, as if bidding defiance to the 
axe of the woodsman who had already turned his gaze 
hitherward, surrounded the gay palace, which, with its 
adjacent buildings, covered an area as large as a small 
town, the collection forming a square, illuminated by 
beautiful gardens. 

The Chateau of Beaumanoir was built of stone 
like most of the buildings of its time, gabled and 



256 The St Lawrence River 

pointed in the style of architecture then prevailing. It 
had been erected by the first Intendant of New France, 
Jean Talon, the patron of the gallant explorer, La Salle, 
as a retreat for him to flee to when worried with the 
cares of his high office that afforded him so small a 
meed of satisfaction, owing to the indifference the 
mother country paid to her offspring. Among the 
famous persons who made historic this old hall were 
Sieur Joliet, who came here to relate his wonderful ex- 
ploits in the untrodden West ; here, also, came Father 
Marquette to recount to his wondering listeners his 
stories, that sounded like fables, of that majestic river 
styled "The Father of Waters"; while from here the 
intrepid La Salle, the most chivalrous of them all, set 
forth on his romantic mission to explore the mysterious 
stream and claim it in the name of his King. Then, 
when its illustrious company, of which these were only 
a trio among a score, had gone the way of shadows, 
the ancient edifice became dishonoured by the ignoble 
presence of those who boasted of the ruin and not of 
the glory of the fair empire intrusted to their keeping. 
Could their language have been interpreted, what tales 
of infamous scenes these walls would have told ! 

The chateau was entered by a wide gate set at the 
end of a broad avenue, overhung by a lofty hedge, 
trimmed into fantastic figures after the manner of the 
gates of Luxembourg. The main building, as has 
been said, was set in the midst of gardens of luxurious 
growth, squares, circles, and polygons radiant through 



Picturesque Quebec 257 

the summer months with flowers of varied beauty and 
fragrance. The hedges were filled with fruit trees that 
might well have graced the orchards of the old country, 
all of which, indeed, had been brought from France by 
the thoughtful Talon. In their season were cherries, 
red and luscious as those that thrived in the gardens of 
Brittany ; plums that vied with the rare sweetness of 
their sisters in Gascony ; pears from the famous fruitage 
of the Rhone valley ; and apples rivalling in their soft 
tints the rosy cheeks of the fair maids of Normandy. 
But if environed by a prodigal display of beauty and 
sunshine, the chateau stood the very image of gloom. 
Its massive doors were ever kept bolted and barred ; its 
mullioned windows close-shut, as if it were a dungeon 
holding within its walls unhappy victims denied their 
freedom. 

If there is any truth in local tradition this was, in fact, 
the case concerning one fair life, too pure, too beautiful 
to mingle with the wicked world. She was the child of 
De Castin, that high and noble founder of the name in 
Acadia. Her mother was the daughter of an Abnaki 
chief, and, like a true forest princess, was every way 
worthy of her liege lord. This daughter possessed all 
of the comeliness of person belonging to her mother, 
and the dignity of her proud father. As she grew to 
womanhood, her personal charms and manner more 
than fulfilling the promise of girlhood, the Castin man- 
sion became the popular resort of persons of distinction 

connected with the affairs of the colony. Among others 
17 



258 The St. Lawrence River 

came Francois Bigot, Chief Commissary of the Army, 
then looked upon as an honoured officer of his King. 
An attachment quickly sprang up between this couple, 
sincere and lifelong with the one, a passing whim with 
the other, but sufficiently sincere to afford amusement 
for a time that might otherwise have been wearisome. 
Leaving his post here in disgrace, Chevalier Bigot no 
doubt thought that his little love romance was over. 
But he had not come to realise the depth of a woman's 
love and the sacrifice she was willing to make for him 
who had enthralled her very soul. He left her, as he 
supposed, to languish in silence and inactivity ; but it 
was not long after he had come to Quebec, in 1 748, in 
spite of his infamy elsewhere, to defame the already 
smirched name of New France, that he learned that a 
very beautiful woman had been seen about the city. He 
gave no thought to her, however, until one day, while 
hunting in the vicinity of Beaumanoir, he met her in the 
forest and recognised her who was entitled to be his 
wife. It chanced that he was alone at the time, and, not 
caring to have his companions learn of his intrigue, un- 
able to induce her to go away, he escorted her to the 
chateau. There she remained practically a prisoner 
during the troublesome times that followed, and until it 
was rumoured that she had been murdered by one of his 
agents. Let that be as it may, Bigot has been charged 
with quite enough for one man to meet at the 
judgment. 

Slightly removed from the chateau, but according to 




>. o* 



Picturesque Quebec 259 

story connected by an underground passage, stood a 
tower of stone masonry, its walls filled with loopholes 
and crowned with a crenelated crest. This had been 
built as a place of refuge and defence during the Indian 
attacks in the days of the Iroquois invasions. The little 
fortress had proved invulnerable to them ; but the suns 
and the storms of the passing years proved more destruc- 
tive than the primitive armament of the dusky warriors, 
so that long since it crumbled and fell. Little remains 
now of Beaumanoir — a ruined corner of wall here, a 
gable there, a few unsightly mounds, the red alders 
creeping over fallen buildings, the ugliness of the 
crumbling masonry relieved by the innocent faces of 
Canadian violets and illuminated by star-flowers, or half 
concealed by thick moss and tall grass, where the birds 
build their nests and the winds sigh a frequent requiem 
over the loss of an empire standing upon corruption and 
depotism. There are those who claim that the desola- 
tion of the unhappy place is made more pathetic by the 
haunting presence of the most innocent and beautiful 
life that perished amid the downfall of human hopes. 



Chapter XIX 
Sights and Shrines of Quebec 

Monuments to Wolfe, Montcalm, and " Aux Braves "— Ste. Foye Road— Mount 
Hermon— Chateau St. Louis — Portraits of Celebrities— Chateau Frontenac — 
" The Golden Dog "—Story of M. Phillibert— University of Laval—" Notre 
Dame des Victoires "—Graves of Richelieu and Laval— A Winter Night- 
Laughter and Good Cheer. 

THE gaze reluctantly turning away from the 
direction of Charlesbourg, with its ruins and 
memories, naturally seeks that battlefield where 
the course of infamy ended in disaster. The Plains of 
Abraham are a fitting resting-place for heroes, and it 
needs no modern historian to tell the glory of those who 
fill them. Recent research has, however, done much 
toward correcting the errors perpetuated by careless 
chroniclers contemporaneous with the scenes which they 
attempted to describe. A plain shaft marks the spot 
where, according to late-day investigations, the victor 
did not fall. But the matter of a few hundred yards, 
more or less, from the exact spot does not matter. 
Wolfe does not need such a monument. Behind Duf- 
ferin Terrace, in the governor's garden, another granite 
column adds the part of a monument to keep green the 
story, with the simple inscription : " In memory of Wolfe 

and Montcalm." Not often is the name of the van- 

260 



Sights and Shrines of Quebec 261 

quished linked so harmoniously with that of his con- 
queror, until at this not very distant day it is not worth 
weighing the difference to find whose fame is the 
greater. Two miles above the Lower Town a break in 
the massive wall affords room for that convenient path- 
way where both Wolfe and Arnold climbed to dare the 
enemy intrenched upon the height. Had the action of 
the foe in each case been reversed— Montcalm remaining 
behind his defences and Cramache seeking battle on the 
open plain — who can say that Canada would not now 
be a part of the United States instead of Great Britain, 
and Arnold, not Wolfe, the great figure in its history ? 
Possibly this historic and momentous pathway, which 
seems to have been designed as the key to Cape Dia- 
mond's fortified heights, is not so abrupt and difficult 
of ascent as your historian, aided by your imagination, 
has pictured it to you. Such places become, upon close 
inspection, wanting in some of the wilder and more im- 
practicable parts. Putnam's ride at Breakneck Stairs 
was really a tame affair compared to what it has been 
described. But a hero's fame rises above such minor 
facts. Like the rhyme and rhythm of great poets, their 
deeds are entitled to certain licenses of description. 
Then it must be remembered that nearly one hundred 
and fifty years have softened the rugged trail. May 
the day be hastened when the Plains of Abraham shall 
be reserved for a public park ! 

Beyond the scene of this overshadowing victory is 
the battlefield of Ste. Foye, where De Levis won his 



262 The St. Lawrence River 

victory over Murray in 1 760, and which was an inter- 
esting outcome of Wolfe's campaign. It is sometimes 
called "the second battle of the plains." This place is 
marked by a monument " To the Brave," erected by 
Prince Napoleon Bonaparte in 1854. It is a tall pillar 
of iron, surmounted by a figure of Bellona, the Roman 
goddess of war, and with the fraternal feelings which 
mark so many of the Canadian memorials it is gener- 
ously inscribed to the memory of both sides, the in- 
scription reading simply : 

AUX BRAVES. 

Quebec has many pretty walks, but none prettier 
than that which leads through the gate of St. John and 
follows along the Ste. Foye road, beneath a leafy ave- 
nue bordered with neat villas, until a slight eminence is 
reached where Murray made his reckless charge, with 
the slush and April snow knee-deep, quickly crimsoned 
with the blood of the heroes who fell on every hand. 
Near by are the Martello towers. 

A visit to a battlefield seems to be fitly followed by 
one to a " City of Silence." There can be no more 
beautiful cemetery than " Mount Hermon," planned by 
an American gentleman, Major Douglas, and almost 
equal in area to the Plains of Abraham. It commands 
a fine view, and among the noted persons who have 
found resting-places here may be mentioned the famous 
Scottish vocalist, John Wilson, and the Reverend Daniel 
Wilkie, LL.D., the celebrated preceptor of youth. 






ft 




Sights and Shrines of Quebec 263 

But leaving the city of the dead and the monuments 
of heroes, the eye falls upon Quebec's famous terrace, 
which was laid out by the Earl of Durham, to be en- 
larged and improved by Lord Dufferin, whose name it 
now bears. Under this terrace are yet to be seen the 
foundations of that ancient Chateau St. Louis, built by 
Champlain and destroyed by fire in 1834. This notable 
building was for about two centuries the seat of govern- 
ment, and within its walls transpired some of the most 
momentous scenes in the history of New France. Its 
great hall has been described as palatial in its dimen- 
sions and adornments. Its high walls, set with deep 
panels of wainscoting, and hung with paintings of his- 
toric interest, were relieved by huge pillars of polished 
oak, lifting high overhead the lofty ceiling, tinted a 
deep blue, and ornamented by delicate carvings of 
ebony-wood. Among the richly coloured portraits were 
the searching features of Cartier, with his pointed beard, 
sharp nose, and flashing eyes, as if still peering up the 
rapids of the mighty river he had discovered ; there 
was Champlain, his handsome countenance touched 
softly with the radiance of clear, dark eyes, and framed 
in with a profusion of long, waving hair, giving slight 
token of the fire that burned in his restless brain ; Louis 
Baude de Frontenac, keen of feature and as gallant of 
look as in life, while beside him was the beautiful woman 
whom he acknowledged as his wife but whose company 
he ignored; the unselfish Talon, noblest of the Intend- 
ants ; the courtly La Salle, to whom New France owed 



264 The St. Lawrence River 

so much in the West ; Laval, the first bishop, the father 
of education in the colony ; and not far away that faith- 
ful founder of schools and the first superior of the Ur- 
sulines in Quebec, Mere Marie de l'lncarnation ; the 
stern, resolute, all-ambitious Louis the Great of France, 
with many other men of note, — kings, governors, in- 
tendants, explorers, and builders of New France. 

Of all this and much more that has never been told 
exists only a shade. Near its site stands a modern 
structure, the Chateau Frontenac, one of the finest 
hotels in the world. In the yard in front of this, look- 
ing calmly down upon the beholder, stands a massive 
memorial to Champlain. Just below, at this writing, 
another fitting tribute is being raised to the memory of 
that truly great and good man, Laval. Near by stands 
the post-office, a modern enough building of stone, yet 
holding within its walls a block of granite from that 
ancient building once standing on its site and known by 
the unpoetical name of Le Chien d' Or, or " The Golden 
Dog." This legend-haunted house was made the scene 
of one of Quebec's most famous books, and everything 
relating to it is redolent with romance. It was built by 
a M. Phillibert, a merchant coming to Quebec from 
Bordeaux in the unhappy days of Bigot, the infamous 
Intendant. M. Phillibert, with the cause of the com- 
mon people at heart, undertook to break down the 
power of the dishonest ring which was ruining New 
France. Over the door to the entrance of his great 
store, where was to be found every commodity needed 




<y 



Sights and Shrines of Quebec 265 

by the people on sale at reasonable prices, he caused to 
be represented in relief the figure of a dog gnawing 
a bone, under which were the following lines : 

Je svis vn chien qvi ronge moil os 
En le rongeant, je prends mon repos, 
Vnjovr viendra qvi n est pas encore venv, 
Ov je mordrai celvi qvi m'avra mordv. 

So stoutly did M. Phillibert fight Intendant Bigot that 
the latter finally turned against him, and, according to 
story, hired him assassinated, a brother of his beautiful 
but unscrupulous wife performing the dastardly deed. 

Standing near the brink of rock where the brave 
Montgomery fell is the University of Laval, with its 
triple towers and a cupola of cross-crowns. This is 
Quebec's treasure-house of books, relics, and pictures. 
It was founded by M. de Laval de Montmorenci, in 
1636, during whose lifetime the buildings were twice 
burned. It was originally intended for the education 
of Catholic clergymen, but eventually to educate all 
who came. Queen Victoria, in 1854, raised the institu- 
tion to the status of a university. 

Quebec might well be called the city of churches, to 
mention all of which would require too much space. 
Near the market in the Lower Town stands one of the 
finest buildings of worship erected in America. This 
church, while services were being held all over the 
city in praise of the escape from the attack of the 
New England forces under Phips, was dedicated to 
Notre Dame de la Victoire. Twenty years later, when 



266 The St. Lawrence River 

another scheme of conquest was undertaken, and Sir 
Hoveden Walker's fleet of fifteen warships was wrecked 
at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, while on its way to 
capture Quebec, the building was re-dedicated, and its 
name made to take a plural form, Notre Dame des 
Victoires. The gladdened people now built a porch 
over its door. 

Near where this stands was the house Champlain 
built in 1608, and just back of it the plot where he 
formed the first garden in Canada. Another fine edi- 
fice claiming more than passing attention is the Ba- 
silica, built on the site of the ancient church of Notre 
Dame de la Recouvrance, raised by Champlain to com- 
memorate the restoration of New France by Great 
Britain following its conquest by Kertk. Here taught 
those missionary martyrs Brebeuf, Lalemant, and Mar- 
quette. The remains of Richelieu and Laval repose 
within its sacred inclosure. On Garden Street is the 
Ursuline convent, in whose chapel rests all that is mor- 
tal of Montcalm. What memories cluster round these 
Meccas of the mind ! Quebec has done well in marking 
these hallowed spots, though it may be not so well as 
Montreal. There are outside of these cities many 
noted places throughout the provinces which deserve to 
be marked, and the coming generation will wonder why 
it is not done. It is already too late to act in some 
cases, but others can yet be saved. 

Having seen Quebec by daylight and lamplight, its 
sunshine and shadow, one other phase remains to be 



Sights and Shrines of Quebec 267 

met. If last with us, it is not least. With the plains 
transformed into whitened deserts, the forests tufted 
with the crown of the northern goddess, the villages 
asleep under their spotless robes, the majestic St. Law- 
rence grinding into powder its vast fields of ice, the whir 
of mills the only sound that comes from an erstwhile 
busy port, defying the siege of the North King, this 
Queen of the Northland appears in royal grandeur. 
Her subjects now light their home fires ; the sleigh-bells 
jingle merrily in the streets ; and old winter is braved 
and dared with jest and good cheer. The street life is, 
in fact, a merry-go-round, in which the riders are fur- 
coated giants, as cheery as warm hearts can make them. 
It is now the heyday for the young people, who can 
find plenty to occupy their attention, snow-shoeing, 
skating, tobogganing, and coasting. 

No hour is more sacred than that which falls upon a 
wintry sunset like a winding-sheet over the departing 
day. The view obstructed by banks of snow, by the 
white plumes of the forest, by the grey dimness growing 
deeper and deeper, the unseen hand of Twilight closes 
softly the portals of day. The whole city lies in a huge 
muffler reaching to its throat, but, like so many big, 
blinking eyes, the dormer windows of the cottages peep 
out above it. Let the wild wind brush you with its 
long, hoary beard ; let the solitude, which is never so 
near as then, settle upon you and yours ; in the west are 
streamers of gold, and you know the god of day is 
banking his fire for the night. The low, sweet melody 



268 The St. Lawrence River 

of the Angelus is wafted on the air from the chapel of 
the nuns, and all feelings of loneliness instantly leave 
you. Let the street become deserted ; let the sun 
cloak with darkness his light ; so long as the bells of 
humanity ring there is hope and gladness in the old city. 
Their notes are the heart-throbs of the brave and the 
hopeful. Soon the darkness is scintillated with the 
beams of the rising moon ; the sky takes on a deeper 
blue than by day ; the snow-crystals of the city walls, 
the whitened roofs, the frosted eaves, one and all spar- 
kle with the pure radiance of the new-born queen, until 
it is easy to fancy that this city, wrapped in its winter 
mantle, is a diamond set in a white stone. 

So, when and whither we turn, the picturesque, 
grand, and beautiful, hallowed with sublime memories, 
greet our vision : cliff stairs climbing to houses in mid- 
air ; winding streets shadowed by quaint roofs ; gay 
market-places, ringing with their babel of voices in for- 
eign tongues ; mounted guns, thundering forth their 
challenge to the outside world at sunrise ; bands in 
bright uniforms playing the march of the setting sun ; 
bells ringing solemnly at the close of day ; churches and 
convents ; walled gardens and lilac-bordered terraces ; 
monuments to dead heroes ; laughter and good cheer 
for the living ; grand, far-reaching environments that 
are not equalled by any other American city ; — all of 
these and many more sights and shrines make Quebec 
the Empress of the peerless St. Lawrence. 



Chapter XX 
From Quebec to Montreal 

North Bank — Sillery — Indian Settlements in the St. Lawrence Valley — St. Francis 
— St. Regis — Three Rivers — Poetical Names — An Atmosphere of Age — Peas- 
ant Population — Three Types — Early Farmhouses — The Harvest Festival — 
Christmas-tide — A True Son of Old Normandy. 

THE high bank of the St. Lawrence from Cape 
Diamond to Cap Rouge is composed of " clay- 
slate," of a dark brown or a dull red colour, from 
whence comes the name of the last point of spurious 
earth. The bed of the river is laid with the same species 
of stone, the friction of the waters constantly raising fine 
particles of dust to the surface and laying these in thin 
sheets upon the shore. As barren of true soil as this 
long frontage of steep cliff appears to be, a healthy 
growth of shrubs and trees relieves with verdure what 
must otherwise be a dreary embankment. 

About a mile above Wolfe's Cove is situated the 
little historic village of Sillery, where, in the stormy 
days of that Christian conquest of Canada made mem- 
orable by its numerous examples of a faith that was not 
bounded by human suffering, the zealous Jesuits called 
about them the wondering Hurons, who listened, with a 
patience beyond comprehension, to exhortations that 

they could not understand. In later years, when the 

269 



270 The St. Lawrence River 

noted Huron village standing about two-thirds of the 
way up the St. Charles River, could muster as a rem- 
nant of the once powerful confederacy less than two 
hundred persons, Sillery became debatable ground. 
The surviving red men then appealed to the British 
courts for a fief, upon the claim that it belonged to them 
as heirs of a grant made to their ancestors in 165 1. 
But the courts held that the grant had been made to 
the Jesuits without specific designations, and simply 
for the purpose of assembling the wandering natives 
of New France and instructing them in the Christian 
religion. It was also claimed that fifty years after con- 
ceding this right, upon representing that it had been 
deserted by the Indians, it was regranted to the Jesuits 
themselves. Then it remained in their hands until the 
dissolution of their order in 1800, when it had reverted 
to the British Government. So the attempt to recover 
that fine tract of country along the river near Quebec 
was denied the poor descendants of the original owners. 
It appears that the grant to the Jesuits was made soon 
after the overthrow of the Hurons by the Iroquois, and 
that the fathers were given this in trust. In justice to 
the English it should be said that in order to compen- 
sate their loss here the Indians were offered grants of 
Crown lands in other sections. But the Hurons replied 
that any movement which would compel them to 
separate or change their mode of living would be of no 
benefit. 

Another Indian settlement of pathetic interest about 



From Quebec to Montreal 271 

fifty years ago was that of a remnant of Algonquins 
near Three Rivers, and numbering about eighty. 
Near St. Francis River, on the opposite bank of the St. 
Lawrence, dwelt, in a village constructed of bark huts 
a little better than primitive wigwams, about 350 Ab- 
nakis and kindred red men, descendants of the warlike 
tribes that inhabited northern New England before 
the long and sanguinary wars between the races. 
Higher up on the St. Lawrence, at this time, were 
three settlements of Iroquois ; the first at Sault St. 
Louis, numbering almost a thousand persons ; a second 
at St. Regis, numbering 350 ; and a smaller number 
living at the Lake of Two Mountains. At the latter 
place also lived about six hundred Algonquins and 
Nipissings. All of these settlements were then in a 
wretched condition. A favourable change, in most 
cases, has taken place, since then ; the inhabitants 
have to a considerable extent taken on civilised ways. 
Each hamlet now has its little church, and in most cases 
a native preacher ; the people are industrious and ap- 
parently content with their lot, all of which goes to 
show that the native races of New France and New 
England were not only willing to receive the gospel of 
enlightenment, but that they were capable of becoming 
good citizens. 

About midway between Quebec and Montreal, 
noted as a half-way station of these outposts of civilis- 
ation through the early struggles of settlement and 
conquest, its very situation retarding its growth, is 



272 The St. Lawrence River 

to-day the most important town upon the north bank, 
standing at the triple outlet of the St. Maurice River, 
from which fact it gets its name of Three Rivers. 
Thoreau has most aptly remarked that 

the Greeks, with all their wood and river gods, were not so quali- 
fied to name the natural features of a country, as these French 
Canadians, and if any people had a right to substitute their own for 
Indian names it was they. When translated into our language 
these names lose much of their original beauty and poetry. While 
a peculiar fitness belongs to the nomenclature of its natural features 
the utterance of these names cannot other than suggest the linger- 
ing touches of romance. What associations are revivified by the 
mention of La Riviere de la Rose, " the River of the Rose," La 
Riviere de la Friponne, "the Wanton River," La Riviere du Nord, 
" the River of the North," and others more or less romantic. Why 
our own " river " sounds prosaic and commonplace beside that 
la riviere, which fairly ripples with the murmur of running water as 
it falls from the tongue. 

Among the carrying-places, second only in import- 
ance to the rivers, were such fanciful designations as 
Portage des Roses, speaking in unmistakable terms of a 
profusion of wild roses overhanging the place, possibly 
to the annoyance of the infrequent passer-by ; and 
then, on the Ottawa, that still more picturesque name, 
Portage de la Musique, the tumultuous waters, for ever 
tumbling over the rocks, sending up their endless song. 

Three Rivers early became a trading post, and then 
to strengthen and give stability to the frontier a mis- 
sion was founded here in 161 7 by Pacifique du Plessis. 
With all its advantages, however, it failed to receive 
the attention it deserved. Champlain, in his efforts to 
advance westward, caused a fort to be erected here in 



From Quebec to Montreal 273 

1634 upon the same site where the Iroquois had de- 
stroyed a primitive defence built by the Algonquins in 
their futile attempts to beat back their powerful foes. 
It was from here that Father Brebeuf bade his farewell 
to his associates when he set forth in company with a 
party of trading Hurons to carry the tidings of the 
Christian faith farther into the wilderness. This ear- 
nest Jesuit soon proved that he was not devoid of the 
military spirit the Indians strongly preferred to that of 
religious zeal, and he won their friendship by teaching 
them how to build a palisaded square with flanking 
towers at the angles, which enabled them to make a 
better defence against the enemy, than they could from 
their round inclosures. As has already been said, 
Champlain made his last visit here in the summer be- 
fore his death in December. But Montreal became the 
magnet to draw the tide of settlement, and so Three 
Rivers, with her many natural advantages, her great 
iron and lumber industries, lives in her past as well as 
her present. Besides her rich supply of iron, which the 
French began to smelt as early as 1737, this pictur- 
esque town has proved a rich mine of historical lore, as 
worked by her local poet and historian. The town is 
also noted for its noble cathedral, one of the most im- 
posing in the St. Lawrence valley. This is the head of 
tide-water. 

Here, as elsewhere in the St. Lawrence valley, there 
is something in the atmosphere — or is it more sub- 
stantial ? — which constantly impresses us that we are in 



274 The St. Lawrence River 

a country older than New England. The explanation 
lies in the fact that the original comers, the old cheva- 
liers, began by setting up a feudal system of colonisa- 
tion which was a hundred years behind the latter, and 
progress yoked to this made an ill-matched pair, so they 
have never succeeded in catching up. It was not until 
the beginning of the eighteenth century that the French 
could truly claim to have gained a foothold in New 
France. Fifty years of building upon this foundation 
did not succeed in erecting a structure that could resist 
the British force, but it did leave imprints that three 
times that period have not effaced. 

Of the States it is frequently declared that the in- 
habitants are a mixed race composed of various ele- 
ments. In Canada this is different. New France had 
many types of colonists, and, to a remarkable extent, 
these types have remained pure and unmixed to this 
day. Nowhere, too, is the record of a race more clearly 
defined at its different periods than here. First, there 
came the hardy peasants from Brittany and Normandy, 
small, muscular men, with bodies toughened by an in- 
hospitable climate, and skins weather-stained through 
ages of exposure. They had heads round and small, 
eyes intensely black, an air of unaffected honesty, and, 
what seemed stranger than all else, considering their 
features, a sluggish manner. The face was written over 
with courage, intrepidity, and power of endurance. 
Like father, like son, and these traits live to-day in the 
inhabitants of the Lower St. Lawrence. 



From Quebec to Montreal 275 

While many of the early colonists, that helped to 
form another class, were the sweepings of the gaols and 
the poorhouses, fortunately not many of these became 
the founders of families. The women who came be- 
longed to a purer class. But there were not women 
enough for wives to the colonists, so many of the men 
married Indian maids, and thus formed legitimate fami- 
lies, whose descendants became no small factors in the 
development of the country. The small black eyes, the 
high cheek-bones, the swarthy skin, the scanty growth 
of beard, the keen, alert manner, these were traits that 
generations have not lost. The most strongly marked 
of this class are known as petit brules, and are dark, 
gnarled, and tough. Occasionally we find one whose 
dusky features have been lightened, and whose cold, 
phlegmatic nature has been warmed by the fire of 
another race. 

Another phase of the population is the Gaul, who 
can trace his ancestry back to some soldier in the army 
under Wolfe and other English commanders, who took 
unto his bosom a Norman maid, and whose descendants 
bear English names but cannot speak a word of that 
language. Then there is the descendant of the loyalist, 
driven from New England to found a new home in the 
wilds of the St. Lawrence valley, who speedily secured 
him a helpmeet in some dark-haired, dark-eyed Can- 
adian lass, unable to speak a word of English, but who 
understood the universal language of love. 

Perhaps the finest specimens of the Canadian peas- 



276 The St. Lawrence River 

ant, now rare, are the descendants of those pioneer 
nobles whose fortunes sent them from affluent homes in 
the old country to help conduct affairs in the new, but 
who were left after the conquest too poor to return to 
their native land. They fell back upon agriculture, 
that form of industry which has received so many, un- 
able to rise to the station their talents and breeding 
entitled them to take, marrying, if not already united to 
some fair daughter of Old France, a buxom maid of New 
France. Their circumstances not permitting greater 
benefits of education, their children grew up under the 
limited advantages of the lower class. Each succeeding 
generation falling a scale lower, they sank to the level 
of the common peasantry, but without losing that native 
grace and courteousness which is to-day the wonder and 
the admiration of those who meet them. In this we see 
how strongly the traditions of a race follow the tide of 
fortunes and make courtiers out of plebeians. 

Thus we see three distinct races of men, not yet 
completely amalgamated, composing the leading ele- 
ments of population : the original French whose de- 
scendants are called kabitans; the British immigrant ; 
and, first in the order of his coming, the Amerind. The 
first, and third of these formed at the time of the con- 
quest almost the entire population. They held the 
fertile meadows along the St. Lawrence between Quebec 
and Montreal, while they had pushed up the banks of the 
Richelieu, Chaudiere, Yamaska, and the St. Maurice, 
besides having made some minor settlements on the 




A FRENCH CANADIAN FARMER. 
From a photograph by Livernois, Quebec. 



From Quebec to Montreal 277 

other tributaries of the great river. The tracts held by 
them were all under the feudal system once prevalent 
in Canada ; that is, the entire country had been first 
granted to persons of note and prestige, usually in large 
blocks or districts. This class, not being disposed to 
improve their broad acres in order to receive any bene- 
fit from them, made over small parcels to those who 
would undertake to clear the forest and build them 
homes, upon the payment of small yearly rentals, with 
the stipulation that the land should be theirs after cer- 
tain amounts had been paid. These sums were usually 
very moderate, sometimes running as low as ten shillings 
a year, with some other consideration allowed, such as 
a small bounty on fish caught, mill-dues, a bushel of 
wheat, and a fowl or two thrown in. Under such easy 
conditions the occupants of these fiefs or farms were 
able to own them in a few years. 

These habitans proved an industrious, provident, but 
not an energetic or progressive people. Few added to 
their early acres, though plenty of opportunity was 
given them in the extensive tracts of wild lands within 
their reach. Over all hung that air of contentment 
which is antagonistic to the improvement and the rapid 
advance of the American farmer. Here the old way 
lingered in the path of progress. An air of Confu- 
cianism reigned. If the crops grew fairly well, and 
they got raw material enough to manufacture the plain 
cloth to clothe them, they enjoyed a sort of idyllic 
happiness. This modest peasant worked with due 



278 The St. Lawrence River 

deliberation, worrying little, fretting little, and in that 
way became master of himself, plain, comfortable, 
courteous, virtuous, without seeking after knowledge or 
reaching for power. Perhaps they were better off than 
their brothers over the line. Who can say ? The 
spirit of the nineteenth century awakened them some- 
what, and upon the dawn of the twentieth century we 
see this restlessness increasing. What the outcome will 
be remains to be seen. 

The early French farmhouse was built of rough 
stones, the crevices filled with mortar, and the sharp- 
peaked roof projecting above the gable, with dormer 
windows and eaves that threatened to crush the whole 
structure. With slight modifications this style of archi- 
tecture remains, though wood has generally succeeded 
stone as building material. The walls are usually 
whitewashed from sill to ridge-pole. The huge chimney, 
with its plastered sides, remains ; so do the wide eaves 
projecting over the railless piazza ; so does the feeling 
that winter still lingers in spirit if not in substance over 
the dwelling. Shade trees are not so common as in the 
States, but the stately Lombardy poplar that came with 
the earliest inhabitants has never lost favour with the 
peasantry. There is no display of fruit in the little 
garden, while there is a dearth of flowers and shrubbery 
around the yard. The barn, with its thatched roof; 
stands a short distance away, as lonely as the house. 

Following a rail fence for about two hundred yards 
— the regulation distance is three arpents (equivalent to 



From Quebec to Montreal 279 

an acre) in width, and sixty arpents in depth — we come 
to an exact counterpart of this. Beyond is another, 
and yet another, until we have continued on a road that 
seems endless and a type of dwelling that mocks the 
love for variety. There is certainly a painful sameness 
in the rows of farmhouses in the Lower Province, not 
to mention the Eastern Townships. 

The interior of these -houses presents a busy as- 
pect. The rough walls hold many high-coloured pic- 
tures of a religious nature, a likeness of Jesus, of Mary, 
or of St. Cecilia and others. Overhead, in the living- 
room, hang from pegs long strings of onions, dried fruit, 
and it may be two or three pairs of snow-shoes and the 
firearms of the men. Passing into the adjoining apart- 
ment, — these houses usually contain only two rooms, — 
the most prominent article of furniture is the ancient bed, 
with its massive posts and quilt of patchwork laid and 
sewed by the deft fingers of the good housewife. Over 
the bed hangs a cross, associated with which are numer- 
ous images and relics, all rendered holy objects by the 
blessing of the parish priest. Altogether the interior of 
the dwelling is a cheerful scene, and if grimed with 
smoke and filled with the odours of the kitchen, it is 
quaint and home-like, where a happy family gather at 
eventide. 

This race, from time almost memorial, has professed 
the religion of the Catholic Church. This teaches them 
not to miss the Sunday morning service, but it does not 
hold them strictly accountable for their actions during the 



280 The St. Lawrence River 

balance of the day. So Sunday becomes, in a measure, 
a holiday. Decked out in their best, certain of the 
families set forth to visit friends, the male portion to 
discuss matters that have a decidedly worldly character, 
while the gentler portion repeat with a kindred spirit the 
village gossip. The young men, habited in their fin- 
est, improve this time to pay their court to the charming 
damsels that may favour them with their good graces. 
And these maidens, clothed in their best, their becom- 
ing attire set out with many bright colours in which they 
take especial pride, wait and watch for their chevaliers 
with undisguised anticipation of delight. 

Not long since the harvest was followed by a festi- 
val which seemed at one time to have a national hold 
upon the people. It was given during the harvest 
moon, when the last load of grain was garnered. A 
sheaf of huge dimensions, emblematical of an abundant 
harvest, was placed on top, and beside this loaded wain 
walked on each side four young men and as many young 
women, their heads decorated with the heads of the 
grain. As they kept measured step with the slow-mov- 
ing oxen that drew the load, they sang snatches of 
national songs. 

While this load of grain, with its escorts, moved 
leisurely in the direction of the home of the particular 
farmer who thus proposed to offer his homage to the 
goddess Ceres, within the house the good husbandman 
and his faithful spouse patiently awaited its approach. 
Says an old account : 



From Quebec to Montreal 281 

The master of the house sits in a large arm-chair at the head of 
the room, and awaits with a joyful and contented air the arrival of 
his people. These soon come trooping in, led by the eldest son, 
who carries in one hand a fine sheaf of wheat all decorated with 
ribbons, and in the other hand a decanter and a glass. He ad- 
vances to the master of the house, gives him the sheaf, wishes him 
as good a harvest every year of his life, and pours him out a glass 
of brandy. The old gentleman thanks him and drinks off the glass. 
Then the son goes round the room and serves the company, after 
which they pass to the next room for supper, composed of mutton, 
milk, and pancakes with maple sugar. After supper the decanter 
and glass go their rounds again, and then the young man who pre- 
sented the sheaf asks his father to sing a song. 

The song finished, the young people begin to dance, 
while a musician plays ; others sing, the older members 
tell stories, the children play games until the festival is 
brought to an end in the small hours of night. 

While this practice, as has been remarked, was some 

time since abandoned, its spirit still pervades not only 

the harvest, but the sowing and the cultivation of the 

crop. Instead of preparing for this festivity of the Big 

Sheaf, the farmer pays the priest a certain sum to say 

a mass and offer up prayers of thankfulness for his 

harvest. 

The grain does not grow without the touch of holy water ; when 
harvested it is brought to the altar ; the leaven rises under the in- 
vocation of Divine aid ; and the loaf is not cut till the sign of the 
cross is made upon it by the devout habitan. The loaf is, indeed, 
an epitome of their life. 

The short, fleeting summer being necessarily spent 
in constant toil, cutting short the hours of relaxation, 
the winter becomes the season when light-hearted joy 
reigns triumphant. Then, in their carioles, or little 



282 The St. Lawrence River 

chaises on steel runners, they flit from neighbour to 
neighbour, spending the long evenings in games and 
social intercourse, throwing dull care to the wintry 
blasts waging their bitter battles without, while peace 
and contentedness vie with each other for supremacy 
within the little house. 

At Christmas-tide the believing peasant will tell you 
that the stars penetrate to the heart of the earth, often 
disclosing valuable treasures to him who is fortunate 
enough to be on hand. It is then the last curd of the 
parish of the Saguenay awakens his sleeping flock, and 
recites the litany, his shadowy followers repeating after 
him the responses. As soon as this exercise is over, all 
return to their tombs, where they remain until another 
Christmas shall call them forth upon their ghostly 
errand. In later years we find Christmas observed by 
its midnight mass, its consecrated bread, and the sing- 
ing of anthems. At eleven o'clock the first bell is rung, 
and half an hour later it is repeated, the chorister at 
this time beginning to chant the Venez, mon Dieu, and 
Chansons Noel. A few minutes before twelve o'clock the 
Te Deum is sung, during which the cannon announces 
that the divine hour has come, and the mass is to 
begin. 

Perhaps in the history of no people has the love for 
fatherland been more pronounced or of longer duration 
than in Canada, — a British body with a French heart. 
The meaning of this statement cannot be better illus- 
trated than in the advice of the old soldier under 



From Quebec to Montreal 283 

Montcalm, pictured in the romance of Les Anciens 
Ca?zadzens, who, suffering from the bloodless wounds 
given by the conquerors of Quebec, said to his son, as 
he handed him his sword, " Serve your English sovereign 
with the same zeal, devotion, and loyalty with which I 
have served the French King, and accept my blessing." 
With this spirit of allegiance it is not singular that 
here are " the true French, the successors of the great 
race that once dominated Europe." It is true their 
manners have been modified somewhat by the change 
of government and environment, but centuries of life 
have failed to eradicate the racial features or change 
their nature. So we find the sturdy habitan of the 
Canada of to-day an almost identical reproduction of 
his ancestor who came to New France from Old Nor- 
mandy in the days of Champlain and Frontenac. One 
of his historians aptly says : 

He is the same cheerful, optimistic, pleasure-loving being that 
they were. In many respects he is as simple as a child; in others 
he is as cunning and as guileful as any small trader on earth. The 
French Canadian cannot live in solitude; he must have society. 
. . . When the evening comes he leaves his plough in the furrow 
and greets the stars with a song that his forefathers, who fought 
with Frontenac, brought over from the land their descendants still 
call "/a belle France." Their tired women are never too tired to 
dance in the midst of cares and labours so heavy and severe that 
their like has driven thousands of the habitans into the United States. 
. . . By the light of the blazing logs in the humble cottage they 
are happy and cheerful to a degree that would seem to the grave 
New Englander wicked levity and mad irresponsibility. 

Thus to-day the environments of Quebec are mainly 

remnants of that cloak thrown around it by the sons of 



284 The St. Lawrence River 

Normandy who flocked hither ere that fateful morn 
when Montcalm rallied his troops in an ineffectual 
attempt to turn back the tide of British conquest on 
the Plains of Abraham. If the immigration ceased 
then with an abruptness quite remarkable, those in 
whose hands was placed the seal of destiny have proved 
themselves true to the love and traditions of that 
France which the immigrts of the seventeenth century 
left to try their fortunes in the forests of a New 
France. 



CHAPTER XXI 

The Region of Rivers 

The Chaudiere Valley — Watershed of Northern New England — Falls of the 
Chaudiere — Eastern Townships — As seen by the Early Voyagers — A Primeval 
Picture — Feathered Denizens of the Woods — Noble Old Trees — Memory of 
Cartier's Men — Lake St. Peter — Town of St. Francis — St. Francis River — An 
Old-Time War-Trail — Rogers's Raid — The Loyalists — Yamaska — A Vista of 
Mountains — The Richelieu Valley — Extract from an Old Journal — Saintly 
Names — A Ghostly Bivouac. 

FOLLOWING the southern shore, soon after 
leaving Quebec we reach the mouth of its 
most important tributary from this direction 
since leaving the gulf. It was up this river, over the 
portages crossing the highlands, and then down the 
Kennebec that the Indian tribes of the valley of 
the St. Lawrence entered the Province of Main, now 
the State of Maine. 

In its hues, from the blossoms and foliage, it is a 
valley of rainbows ; in its shape, from the old seigniory 
farm-grants cut into small parcels through the laws of 
inheritance, each running back from the river's bank, 
it is a huge landscape checker-board. Each parcel is 
divided from its neighbour by lines of fence as straight 
as runs the eye, one distinguished by a distinct shade 
of green, another by a deeper hue ; one starred with 

the bright-red blossoms of the Canadian elderberry ; 

2S5 



286 The St. Lawrence River 

another splashed with a profusion of yellow buttercups 
on its ground of meadow-green ; and still another gem- 
med with the poet's ox-eye daisies. 

Here, as elsewhere, we see vivid evidence of wealth 
and poverty in varying degrees. Now a dwelling that 
shows comfort and ease from unreasonable toil ; just 
beyond, within a stone's throw, a poorer abode, where 
several poverty-pinched faces peer out from small win- 
dows, saying in unmistakable language that the day is 
not far distant when all but one, son or daughter, must 
go forth to seek a fortune — most likely in the States — 
while the exception must remain at home and eke out a 
precarious existence as his or her parents have done. 
Unfortunate home-stayer! Happily, perhaps, it is the 
rule here, that a man at fifty retires from active work, 
and lives, and smokes, and gossips until the end. I 
have not been able to learn if this rule applies in part 
or entirely to the woman who took up early the burden 
of the home with him. But no doubt the rule applies 
with forcible truth here, that "woman's work is never 
done." 

Tradition — good old soul ! — says the bed of the 
Chaudiere is inlaid with gold. If that be true or not, 
no man has taken the trouble to ascertain. For nearly 
two centuries the simple people have been content to 
follow the pace set by their ancestors, and, if they did 
not choose to look for gold, why should they? In the 
distance a windmill lifts its stationary arm against a 
rising background, like a sentinel on duty to warn away 



The Region of Rivers 287 

the intruder from this peaceful land with a grimness 
that is a part of its long service. What is man, after all, 
but a pointing finger on the dial of time ? 

Only the most modest demands are made upon the 
land here in the valley of the Chaudiere, where, at most, 
the farmer expects a little hay, a little fruit, a few vege- 
tables, some wheat, and rest from toil. Fortunate old 
earth ; happy man ! 

The Chaudiere, which word means a " kettle " or 
caldron, has its source in Lake Megantic, situated on 
the dividing ridge between the Atlantic slope and 
the valley of the St. Lawrence. Upon the one hand 
the rivers flow toward the Atlantic Ocean, and on the 
other seek the great river of Canada. This watershed, 
extending for hundreds of miles between the slopes run- 
ning down on the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 
on the west to the Great Lakes, had to be crossed by the 
native inhabitants and the early pioneers by the painful 
process of portage. Of these places, that connecting 
the Chaudiere with the head waters of the Kennebec 
was second in importance. It was over this " terri- 
ble carrying-place," from the Dead River to the Chau- 
diere, that Arnold passed with his weary men in the 
winter of 1775-76, when making his arduous march to 
meet Montgomery at Quebec in a joint assault upon 
that stronghold, the most famous campaign in American 
history, and one of the most trying in the history of 
the world. 

The Falls of the Chaudiere are among the most 



288 The St. Lawrence River 

attractive in America, though they do not exceed 130 
feet in height. Their beauty and majesty, however, is 
trebled by a division of the stream into three channels, 
which unite below. Much of the sublimity of this fall 
has passed with the coming of the woodsman, though 
he could rob the jewel of only its setting. It was de- 
scribed three-fourths of a century ago by the eloquent 
Willis in the following words : 

Nothing is on the same great scale of its two rivals (Niagara 
and Montmorency), yet it surpasses both in the magnificent 
forests by which it is overhung, whose dark foliage, varied and 
contrasted by the white foam of the cataracts, produces the most 
striking effects. These are heightened by the deep and hollow 
sound of the waters, and the clouds of spray, which, when illumined 
by the sun, exhibit the most brilliant variety of prismatic colours. A 
succession of rapids for some space upwards displays a continuation 
of the same bold and beautiful scenery. 

Here, as elsewhere, the impressive sublimity of the 
ancient forest has given way to the sunny slope and 
the pastoral vale. Where the blockhouse that once 
bid defiance to an enemy that neither knew pity nor 
compassed fear, the great warehouse of a prosperous 
community stands ; and the labyrinthine chateau of a 
Vansittart would now be sadly out of harmony envi- 
roned by an apple orchard, the bower of some modern 
Rosamond. 

To pfet the best effect of the Chaudiere Falls, visit 
them by moonlight, when the great wilderness of night 
has bound the scene in a solitude born of the distant 
past. It is then the naiads of the foaming waters, 




o 



The Region of Rivers 289 

daughters of the mist, don their whitest raiment, dance 
in their wildest glee, and sing their merriest songs. No 
sound more discordant than the plaintive cry of a be- 
lated thrush, or the distant baying of a hound that has, 
peradventure, run its game to earth, breaks upon the 
steady roar of the rolling river, while the sympathetic 
moon glides overhead in her slippers of silence. When 
we finally break away from the invisible arms that 
would draw us with a mysterious power into their fatal 
embrace, and the deep thunder of the impassioned 
waters becomes fainter and fainter as we recede, it 
seems as if the magnificent machinery of Nature had 
ceased its revolutions, while a deep, impressive calm 
settles upon the earth. The breeze sweeping down 
from the distant mountain dies away before it enters 
here. The trees, like tired children, suddenly fall 
asleep, and stand with heads bowed in repose. 

Lying to the south of the St. Lawrence, between 
the Chaudiere and the Richelieu rivers, with the water- 
shed between the States and Canada forming the in- 
terior boundary, is a region of rivers, lakes, plains, and 
valleys, punctuated here and there with some mountain 
peak, and known as the Eastern Townships. At a 
time when only a few squatters had settled upon it, in 
1833, the British-American Land Company made the 
great block purchase of that territory later divided into 
the towns of Garthby, Strafford, Whitton, Adstock, 
Chesham, Emberton, Hampden, Bury, with portions of 
Weedon, Singwick, Ditton, Auckland, and Hereford. 



290 The St. Lawrence River 

The company decided to begin their settlement upon 
that fertile section watered by the Salmon River, and 
named "The Meadows." Just below the falls they 
built a village called Victoria, and, in 1836, cut a road 
through to Sherbrooke. 

Nature reigns with a free hand in the Eastern 
Townships. Nowhere have the mountains a deeper 
gloom ; the sunlight, that gilds their summits, a brighter 
halo. The spirit of wild life everywhere abounds. 
Clothed in their evergreen vesture from base to crest, 
the mountains half reveal, half conceal their wealth of 
ravines and crags, gentle slopes and precipitous cliffs ; 
the silvery streams that rush downward with frenzied 
haste to the plains ; the meadows and the valleys, 
scarcely one of which is not jewelled with some sheet of 
glistening water. Added to these charms are the 
numerous villas and home-like cottages scattered by 
man over the fair prospect. What a picture of prime- 
val completeness this country must have presented to 
Cartier, as he boldly advanced up the St. Lawrence in 
his smallest vessel, most appropriately named the Em- 
erillon, which means in English Merlin, the designa- 
tion of a small falcon common in Great Britain. 

Allured hither by the attractions, some of the voyag- 
ers went ashore, and they came back laden with luscious 
grapes and filled with glowing accounts of the beauties 
of this New World Eden. Among the sweet singers 
of the forest they declared they heard linnets, thrushes, 
blackbirds, and the rossignoL as sweet and as charm- 




A TOSS-UP. A FORM OF CANADIAN SPORT. 
From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 



The Region of Rivers 291 

ing as they had ever sung in the native parks of Fon- 
tainebleau. Little did it matter if they had mistaken 
the Canadian sparrow for the nightingale, as they 
would never know the difference, or hear the loved 
strains again of their favourite singers, for did not 
Cartier write, with a tear in his words : " les principaulx 
et dons compaignons que nous eussions " f 

Cartier was pleased to christen the water into which 
they soon after glided Lac d' Angouleme, in honour of 
an ancestral earldom of his patron. Sixty-eight years 
later, June 29, 1603, Champlain upon arriving here re- 
named it Lake St. Peter, after a habit these early 
explorers had of remembering the day upon which a 
certain spot was first seen. 

Cartier and his followers were now opposite the 
present city of Three Rivers, where they first began to 
find the odd-shaped dwellings of the natives, who were 
to be seen along the banks, some of them fishing, oth- 
ers repairing their rude nets or mending their simple 
tackle. Several thriving towns have since sprung up 
along the stretch of shore running westward, the most 
conspicuous of which is Berthier, situated on the 
North Channel, so called, and about midway between 
Three Rivers and Montreal. 

Lake St. Peter receives the waters of two historic 
tributaries to the St. Lawrence. The first of these, as 
we move up the great river, is the St. Francis, a name 
given to it in a baptism of blood long after the coming 
of Cartier. In this vicinity were springs of great 



292 The St. Lawrence River 

medicinal virtue, known to the Indians, and as far 
back as tradition reaches, the red men, one tribe after 
another, had sought the locality, and maintained their 
lodgments. Here the missionary established his out- 
post of religion, and here collected the remnants of the 
Indian families inhabiting the lower provinces as fast as 
the New Englanders, in the long and bitter frontier 
wars, routed their tribes, one after another. Here came 
the last of the Pennacooks, the Ameriscoggins, the 
Wavenocks, the Canibas, and last, but not least, the 
Sokokis, to say nothing of several minor bodies. The 
scenery in this vicinity is delightful, and it is eminently 
fitting that the descendants of the warriors named 
above should exist here to-day, living in a prosperous 
community without a suggestion of the cruel struggles 
which once dyed the budding foliage crimson, and 
reddened the current of the broken waters. It is well 
Nature does not cherish the memory of the outrages 
committed against her, and that the old earth seeks 
immediately to heal scars received in mortal com- 
bats, her forests nodding to each other in forgetful 
glee, and her fields and pastures yielding, in their sea- 
sons, an abundant harvest as lightly as if never written 
over with the story of human tragedies, and furrowed 
with the graves of innocent victims. 

From time immemorial the St. Francis River was 
the middle pathway between the debatable valley of the 
St. Lawrence and the hillsides of the Atlantic. Up and 
down its rugged course, through the gateway of the 



The Region of Rivers 293 

highland lakes, and thence along the Connecticut or the 
Merrimac on the south, passed and repassed the rival 
races of ancient Canada and New England. Over this 
war-course were taken, perhaps, more English captives 
to Canada than on all other routes combined, and there 
is not a bend in its winding waters, a rapid in its race- 
ways, which has not known the wail of human distress. 
Over this war trail was Mrs. Rowlandson borne to her 
years of captivity among the Indians ; over this route 
was John Stark, afterwards of Bennington battle fame, 
taken in the spring of 1752 ; over this trail followed, in 
his pursuit of vengeance, that half human, half demon, 
the wolf-stalker ; somewhere, within sight and sound of 
its murmuring waters, but unmarked and unknown, is 
the double grave of the beautiful sisters of the Pilgrim 
Church; and in 1759, a fitting climax to all of these 
and many other trying scenes, over this same course 
sped those Nemeses of the forest, Rogers and his 
Rangers, stealing down upon the sleeping red men. 
The sleep of death it proved indeed to over two hun- 
dred, who awoke only to fall into the slumber of eter- 
nity. The handful that escaped this tardy reply to 
Frontenac's " winter raids " were too few and weak ever 
to rally at the call of the war-cry. 

The St. Francis River is really the combined flood 
of seven streams, the most prominent of which are the 
Magog, outlet for Lakes Magog and Memphremagog, 
and the Massawippi, which brings the tribute of the 
Coaticook. 



294 The St. Lawrence River 

On the hill-slopes of the main river stands the city 
of fairs, Sherbrooke, whose glittering spires are con- 
spicuous objects for miles around. In 1834, Sherbrooke 
was selected as the headquarters of the British-Ameri- 
can Land Company, which had much to do with open- 
ing up the promising country comprising the Eastern 
Townships. With its manufactures, as well as farming 
interests, this district owes considerable of its develop- 
ment to the loyalists, those robust men who upon the 
ascendency of the American colonies found themselves 
without resources, and, driven from New England, set- 
tled, many of them, in this region. 

Picking up the disused axe with a sigh — often with a secret tear 
— they once more hewed out for themselves homes in the forest. 
They brought across the frontier, with their old Hebrew names, the 
pith and industry and intense earnestness of the Puritan. They 
transplanted to Canadian soil that old farm-life of New England, 
which, by its quaint ways, has stirred so many delightful fancies in 
American novelists and poets. Such fire-light pictures and winter- 
idylls as Hawthorne and Whittier love to paint, were here to be seen 
of a winter evening in every snow-bound farmstead. Among the 
dusty heirlooms of these Township homesteads may still be found 
andirons that stood on the early New England hearths. Burned out 
and fallen to ashes are the last forestick and backlog ; and so are 
that brave old couple who, in their grey hairs wandered into the 
Canadian wilderness, and, with trembling hands, hung the old crane 
over a new hearth. 

Romance and legend cluster thickly about those 
days and the trying experiences of the brave hearts who 
sacrificed their all of earthly comfort in love for their 
king. He only partially paid this debt by the grants of 
land made in 1 784. Canada owes more to this incom- 



The Region of Rivers 295 

ing of the loyalists than she has ever fully acknow- 
ledged. But for this immigration, enforced, if it pleases 
you to say it, the development of the country must have 
been retarded for a long time, while it is doubtful if an 
element to equal it could ever have been attracted hither. 
Now it is the Yamaska, which meant in the Indian 
tongue " the rush-floored river." In order to stem the 
tide of Iroquois invasion, Frontenac undertook to estab- 
lish here a cordon of dusky regiments composed of the 
hereditary enemies of the former. Along the Yamaska 
have since sprung up many pretty towns. Not the least 
among these is St. Hyacinthe, where the deep-toned 
cathedral bell falls on the evening air somewhat as the 
swelling anthems of the forest songs were brought out 
by the wild winds as they shook the roofs of the giant 
pines forming great natural cathedrals when the Genius 
of the Solitude reigned supreme. Climbing this river 
we pass under the shadow of Mount Yamaska, and 
finally enter a narrow valley shut in by the lofty twins, 
Mount Brome on the north and Shefford on the south, 
to stumble upon that gem of waters which is the fount 
of Yamaska. From the summit of one of these we can 
look down upon the noble country hastily sketched, a 
landscape lifted into prominence by the scattered mount- 
ains dotting the view from the Richelieu to the Chau- 
diere, the Canadian children of the White Mountains in 
New Hampshire and the Green Mountains in Vermont, 
the highest of which is Mount Orford, rising 4500 feet 
into the air. If the day is clear the dreamy outlines of 



296 The St. Lawrence River 

Mount Royal on the bank of the St. Lawrence lend 
grace and beauty to the panorama of scenery. The 
largest of its many water-jewels are Lakes Memphre- 
magog and her sister, Massawippi. 

A still more important pathway over the dividing 
ridge between the rival powers was that by the Riche- 
lieu River, which has been partially described in nar- 
rating Champlain's journey of discovery and invasion 
against the Iroquois. Following up this river to Lake 
Champlain, and thence by Otter Creek and Black River 
to the Connecticut, made entrance into central New 
England easy. On the west from Lake George, the 
Hudson was reached by a short portage and an almost 
complete waterway effected into the country of the 
" Long House," now New York. 

This great main war trail, upon the advent of the 
French and English on the stage of warfare, became 
speedily protected by armed garrisons. As early as 
1664 Jacques de Chambly erected a fort at the foot of 
the rapids on the Richelieu, which could also be reached 
by a thirteen-mile portage from La Prairie on the St. 
Lawrence, three miles above Montreal. The passage 
of the French and their allies was also defended by 
three other forts, St. Louis at the mouth of the river, 
afterwards renamed Fort Sorel, Forts St. Therese and 
Richelieu, the latter at the head of the river. The 
French, ascending Lake Champlain and improving the 
strategic position of the country at the end of the port- 
age from Lake George, erected Fort Crown Point in 




A SPILL ON THE TOBOGGAN SLIDE. 



The Region of Rivers 297 

1727, and four years later Fort Frederick, afterwards 
known as Ticonderoga. Meanwhile the English, com- 
ing up the Hudson above Albany, built at Stillwater, in 
1709, Forts Ingoldsby and Nicholson, following these 
with Fort Schuyler, since called Fort Anne, Forts Ed- 
ward and William Henry, the last two built in 1755. 
Thus a cordon of forts, French and English, guarded 
this important waterway, with its portages, from New 
York to Montreal, and it was known as the " Grand 
Pass." 

A contemporary idea of the condition of the settle- 
ments at this time can be best obtained from the narra- 
tive of James Johnson, who was captured at old Fort 
Number Four on the Connecticut in 1757, and taken 
over this route to Montreal. The following is an ex- 
tract from his journal, which has never been published : 

From Crown Point I went to St. Johns fort (Richelieu) at the 
end of ye lake, and from there to Champlain River (Richelieu) & 
that from St. Johns fort to St. Francis is about fifty miles near north 
& from St. Francis to St. Lawrence is about five miles & that ye 
Rout between St. Johns and St. Francis there are two Rows of 
houses one on each side of ye River (Richelieu) in the whole about 
two hundred in some places pretty thick & a fort at Chamblain as 
Strong as Crown Point & the whole village of St. Francis stands on 
an rise of Ground Mountains nearly forty buildings of all sorts that 
there is no fort in it but some stone buildings no considerable set- 
tlement within fifteen miles of S. Francis and that there is St. Fran- 
cis and Shatacooks (an Indian settlement below St. Francis) about 
one hundred and twenty fighting men that St. Francis Lyes on ye 
north side of ye River of that Name. 

The valley of the Richelieu is the land of the butter- 



298 The St Lawrence River 

cup. It is of its towns that the thoughtful Thoreau, 

who has been quoted before, says : 

The names of humble Canadian villages affected me as if they 
had been those of the renowned cities of antiquity. To be told by 
a habiian, when I asked the name of a village in sight, that it was 
St. Fereole or Ste. Anne, the Guardian Angel or the Holy Joseph's ; 
or of a mountain, that it was Belange or St. Hyacinthe ! As soon 
as you leave the States, these saintly names begin — and thence 
forward, the names of mountains, and streams, and villages reel, if 
I may so speak, with the intoxication of poetry — Chambly, Longueil, 
Pointe aux Trembles, Bartholomy, &c, &c, as if it needed only a 
little foreign accent, a few more liquids and vowels, perchance, in 
the language, to make us locate our ideals at once. I began to 
dream of Provence and the Troubadours, and of places and things 
which have no existence on earth. They veiled the Indian and the 
primitive forest; and the woods toward Hudson Bay, were only as 
the forests of France and Germany. I could not at once bring my- 
self to believe that the inhabitants who pronounced daily those 
beautiful and, to me, significant names, lead as prosaic lives as we 
of New England. 

Another shade, however, rises above these clustered 

memories of saints and divines, a wraith of war with its 

mail-clad legions : 

Through this cassock gleamed a steel cuirass. Though the splen- 
did illusions of the Old Regime have long since faded, the haughty 
names of that epoch still kindle with an afterglow. By the mere 
names of these villages, towns, and seigniories, you may conjure 
back Louis Quatorze and Versailles ; the statecraft of Colbert ; 
the soldiers of Turenne and Vauban. Picketed around the ancient 
rendezvous at the confluence of the Richelieu and St. Lawrence 
are the officers of the Carignan-Salieres, as though still guarding 
the Iroquois River-Gate and the approaches to Montreal: — Captain 
Berthier, Lieutenant Lavaltrie ; Boucher, Varennes, Vercheres, 
Contrecceur. Twilight in these ancient woodlands awakens sleep- 
ing echoes and dead centuries ; with the rising night-wind the whole 
place seems 

Filled as with shadow of sound, with the pulse of invisible feet. 



The Region of Rivers 299 

Through the forest-aisles ring out elfin trumpet calls ; we hear the 
reveille of ghostly drum-beating ; the prancing of phantom horses ; 
the clinking of sabres ; the measured tread of Louis the Four- 
teenth's battalions. At roll-call we hear officers answer to familiar 
names :— " Captain Sorel ? "— " Here ! "— " Captain St. Ours ? "— 
" Here ! "— " Captain Chambly ? "— " Here ! "—And in good truth 
most of them are still here. In the soft grass of God's Acre they 
are resting, surrounded by those faithful soldiers who in death, as 
in life, have not deserted them. Together these veterans fought 
the Turk in Hungary and drove them into the Raab ; together they 
chased the Iroquois up the Richelieu, and down the Mohawk Val- 
ley ; and, after van and rear had passed a darker valley and an 
icier flood, they mustered here at last in ghostly bivouac together. 

Ay, the historic Grand Pass of the Richelieu was 
the pathway of illustrious trains, led by Champlain, 
and followed by Courcelles, De Tracy, and others in 
their sallies against the Iroquois. Then it became the 
course of the leaders of Frontenac's "winter raids" 
against the English. Again, in the Seven Years' War, 
it was over this track Montcalm and his generals led 
the French army in their attacks upon Crown Point, 
Ticonderoga, and Fort William Henry. Once more, 
with a brief respite between, this became the war-path 
of Montgomery upon his invasion of Canada, and cap- 
ture of Forts St. John and Chambly, when he went to 
unite with Arnold at Quebec in a forlorn attack upon 
that noted stronghold. Over this way, too, passed, on 
their warlike journeys, Baron Dieskau, Johnson, Aber- 
crombie, and Burgoyne. When at last peace settled her 
white wings silently and gently over this fair corner of 
country, the train of home-makers found here an attrac- 
tive path to civil pursuits rather than to those of carnage. 



Chapter XXII 

Canada's "White City" 

Oldest Town on the St. Lawrence — Victoria Bridge — Helen's Island — "All 's 
Lost but Honour" — History and Tragedy — First Steamer on the St. Lawrence 
— Churches — Notre Dame — Great Bell — Midnight Mass — the Devil and the 
Wind— Grave of le Rat— Recollet Gate— Public Parks— Terrible Fate of 
the Four Iroquois Brothers — Noted Homes — Chateau de Ramezay — Scene 
of Momentous Events — Hallowed by the Presence of Famous Men — Old 
Kitchen — Portrait Gallery — Future of Montreal. 

IF Montreal fails to present the bold, grand, pic- 
turesque features of Quebec, it is not without its 
charms of a gentler nature, with a story older and 
as romantic as that of her sister. Connecting the tra- 
ditions of Hochelaga to the history of the present 
metropolis, it becomes the oldest town in Canada. It 
was here, longer ago than the legends of its people can 
show, that a populous village existed, or rather, as it 
seems, collection of villages. Cartier visited this prim- 
itive settlement on a beautiful autumn day in 1535. 
The people were probably Hurons, but when Cham- 
plain arrived, upon his first voyage up the river, 
the inhabitants had vanished, the rude dwellings 
and fortifications had crumbled to dust, and another 

tribe of men wandered about the deserted town, with 

300 



Canada's "White City" 301 

nothing to mark the site of the ancient capital. Hap- 
pily this has been found, through the excavations made 
for the foundations of some of the modern buildings, 
to have been where Sherbrooke Street runs toward Met- 
calfe, nearly opposite the McGill grounds. A tablet 
now marks the place. 

The St. Lawrence along this portion is seen in one 
of its happiest moods, and, with the Ottawa, forms an 
island thirty-two miles in length and a little over ten 
miles in width. The surface is moderately level, over- 
looked, like a watcher always on duty, by that peerless 
hemisphere, Mount Royal. In the days of its forest 
and foliage, it must indeed have been a primeval 
paradise, where the bronze-hued inhabitants of Hoche- 
laga, and yet other towns antedating that, came and 
went in wanton freedom, with no greater care to vex 
them than the shade of the passing hour, and who left 
no more enduring monuments than footprints in the 
sand. May not the day come when the same shall 
be said of the existing race, in spite of their granite 
pillars, which are but the sands of eternity? 

In Montreal there is plenty of room — no call, as in 
Quebec, for narrow, crooked streets winding up steep 
rock-sides, nor for one town built Jo overlap another. 
But each, in its way, had a purpose. Why, had there 
been no rock of Quebec, the early history of Canada 
might have been written in a different language. The 
approach to " the white city of Canada," as Montreal 
has been poetically pictured, on account of the large 



302 The St. Lawrence River 

amount of light-grey limestone used in its building ma- 
terial, has been aptly described as 

a picture surpassingly beautiful. The solid stone piers and massive 
warehouses in the foreground, the bright-roofed buildings and glist- 
ening church spires in the middle distance, with the noble Mount 
Royal in the background, delight the artistic sense, and inspire emo- 
tions of the keenest pleasure. Viewed from the mountain itself, the 
picture, while totally different, is none the less attractive. The field 
of view is greatly extended, and the eye takes in a grand panorama 
of river and mountain scenery, with the city below in near per- 
spective. Almost at your feet, and excavated from the solid rock 
in the side of the mountain, is the storage reservoir of the city 
water-works. Farther down, and sloping away from the foot of the 
mountain, the streets of the city intersect each other, adorned with 
public and private buildings, and beautifully shaded with trees and 
foliage. As far as the vision can extend, to the right and left the 
sparkling waters of the St. Lawrence are to be seen, a throbbing 
artery of inland commerce, dotted with shipping, while the distant 
background is made up of mountain ranges, some of which are 
in Canada, while dimly outlined on the horizon are the peaks of the 
Green Mountains of Vermont. 

The first object of conspicuous interest to the trav- 
eller who approaches by rail from the historic valley of 
the Richelieu is the famous Victoria Bridge, spanning 
the south channel of the Mother of Rivers. This struct- 
ure is nearly two miles long, hung like a dark ribbon 
sixty feet above the water. With long abutments at 
the ends, it has twenty-four spans 242 feet in length 
each, and a link in the middle 330 feet long. This 
bridge, considered at the time (i860) a great feat of 
engineering, was conceived by the Hon. John Young, 
of Montreal, designed by Robert Stephenson of Eng- 



Canada's "White City" 303 

land, and built by the Grand Trunk Railway at a cost 
of about $7,000,000. 

Nearly opposite the city is one of the fairest islands 
of the St. Lawrence, Helen's Isle, perpetuating .the name 
of Champlain's young wife — who was only twelve when 
he married her. This is now a favourite resort for 
pleasure-seekers, though for a long period under the 
old regime it was a French military station. It was 
here that Marquis de Levis, the last commander of a 
French army in New France, retired and burned his 
flags in the presence of his soldiers on the night before 
the surrender of the colony to Great Britain, and 
beneath a " weeping elm " signed the articles of capitula- 
tion. These pathetic incidents inspired one of Canada's 
poets to compose his stirring poem, All Lost but Hon- 
our. This island was once owned by Champlain, pur- 
chased by him with his wife's money. It was the 
scene of the murder by the Iroquois of two young men 
named Magna and Dufresne, in the summer of 1664, — 
but one incident of this kind among many. Around 
Montreal 

the landscape is one long page of history and tragedy. Many a 
pre-historic savage fight must have taken place in the neighbour- 
hood; many a canoe full of painted warriors have crept stealthily 
along the shores. Round about, many a party of settlers was mur- 
dered by the Iroquois in the earlest days of the colony . . . and 
on Moffat's, or I le-a-la- Pierre, Father Guillaume Vignal was slain 
by an Iroquois ambush during a fierce battle of a quarry in 1659. 
. . . La Prairie, far over to the south, across the water, was the 
scene, in 169 1, of the celebrated and desperate battle of La Prairie, 
the first land attack by the British upon Canada. 



304 The St. Lawrence River 

Longueuil, across the river, can boast of having 
been the site of the grandest feudal castle in New- 
France during the eighteenth century. Leaving the 
fortress-like walls, tower, and chapel to memory, where 
they have existed for a long time, we will return to the 
city, which, with the exception of Quebec, has the most 
favourable situation of the cities of the St. Lawrence. 
Over six hundred miles from the outlet of the river it 
has a fine harbour, though before 1850 a vessel drawing 
more than eleven feet of water could not come up thus 
far. But this has been changed in the last half-cent- 
tury, and a channel over twenty-seven feet deep has 
been dredged, so the largest ships from the Atlantic 
Ocean now moor at its piers. It is a creditable fact, 
that only two years after Fulton had launched his first 
steamboat, in 1807, Mr. John Molson launched the first 
steamboat on the St. Lawrence. This is recorded by a 
tablet bearing the following inscription : " To the Hon- 
ourable John Molson, the Father of Steam Navigation 
on the St. Lawrence. He launched the steamer 'Ac- 
commodation,' for Montreal and Quebec service, 1809." 

Montreal is built upon a series of terraces marking 
the different margins of the river ; the streets are well 
paved, and the buildings imposing and substantial. Had 
this city no other attraction, its public buildings would 
insure it more than passing notice. Foremost among 
these are its churches, first of which stands Notre Dame, 
with its twin towers rising to the height of 220 feet, one 
boasting of a chime of bells second to none in the North- 



Canada's "White City" 3°5 

land, and its mate, the huge Gros Bourdon, which weighs 
24,780 pounds the largest suspended bell in America. 
This magnificent house of divine worship, with the ex- 
ception of the cathedral standing on the site of the 
ancient Aztec pyramids of Mexico, is the largest church 
building in America, and has a seating capacity of about 
fifteen thousand persons. It was built in 1829 after a 
Gothic style adapted to French taste, and has become 
the leading temple of a race. Perhaps the most im- 
posing and impressive scene to be witnessed in Notre 
Dame is the midnight mass. Under the mystic influ- 
ence of devout strains of sacred music, at that solemn 
hour when the human heart is most easily swayed by 
surrounding incentives, with all the beauty and solem- 
nity of the building displayed at its best, in the presence 
of its fifteen thousand worshippers, there is nothing to 
equal this grand, pathetic, picturesque ceremony, — not 
even in that form of religious worship which is so 
grandly beautiful in this respect. Notre Dame is a 
place to thrill the soul, and leave an impression that 
may never be effaced. 

Other churches have their attractions in their adorn- 
ments of statuary, fine paintings, noble interior finish, 
or historic setting. As has been mentioned, the origi- 
nal church in Montreal was builded of bark and inclosed 
by fortress walls. This was suceeded in 1656, by the 
first Parish Church, which stood on the north corner 
where St. Paul and St. Sulpice streets now cross. That, 
in turn, has been supplanted by others, to be removed 



306 The St. Lawrence River 

as the city grew and the ground became needed for 
Notre Dame Street. Pausing, upon a warm summer 
day, where St. Sulpice and Notre Dame streets meet, 
in front of the church, and feeling a cool breath of air, 
which it is claimed is always blowing here, the following 
legend is retold by the old resident : 

The Devil and the Wind were walking down Notre 
Dame Street, when the church was being built, and upon 
seeing its graceful outlines rise before him, the former 
exclaimed : " What is this ? I never saw it before." 
" That may be true." replied the Wind. " I dare you 
to go in there." "You dare me to do that, do you?" 
cried the Devil, with a smile. " I will do it if you will 
promise to wait here until I come out." " I will," re- 
plied the Wind. So his majesty went in. He has 
never come out yet, and the Wind is still waiting for 
him at the corner. 

Under the pavements of Notre Dame Street, in 
front of where the old Parish Church stood, a fitting 
tomb indeed for such a wild nature, lie the bones of 
Kondiaronk, le Rat, the Huron Chief, mention of whom 
was made when he "broke the peace" between the 
French and the Iroquois. It is said he fell dead in the 
midst of a burst of eloquence while addressing the 
allied forces of Hurons and French gathered in council 
at this spot. 

Another place of interest on Notre Dame Street is 
the site of the old Recollet Gate, bearing this tablet, — 
and you will observe that memorials are plenty in 




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Canada's " White City " 307 

Montreal, to the credit of her citizens : — " Recoiled Gate : 
By this gate Amherst took possession, 8th September, 
1760. General Hull, U. S. Army, twenty-five officers, 
three hundred and fifty men, entered prisoners of war, 
20th September, 18 12." 

Montreal has many squares and public parks worthy 
of description. Foremost among these must be num- 
bered that place designed to commemorate the heroic 
deed of Maisonneuve, as described in another chapter. 
This is properly the heart of the great city, where more 
and deeper interests centre than elsewhere, the multi- 
tude moving to and fro under the beautiful figure of 
that early hero, who does not look down upon them in 
bronze with greater calmness than he displayed during 
the critical period of founding the first settlement, when 
he showed himself master of the dangerous situation. 
The statue was designed by a native sculptor, Louis 
Hebert, and represents the hero in the French costume 
of that day, the right hand holding the fleur-de-lis of 
his fatherland. The granite pedestal has this inscrip- 
tion : " Paul de Chomedy de Maisonneuve, Foundateur 
de Montreal, 1642." The fountain upon which it rests 
has four bas-reliefs, showing the following scenes and 
actors : Maisonneuve killing the Indian chief ; the 
founding of Ville-Marie ; the fate of the heroic Lambert 
Closse, who began to fret because he was not killed 
fighting the heathen, but who finally met such a death 
defending the gate at St. Lambert Hill ; last, but not 
least, the fall of the heroic Daulac, with his brave 



308 The St. Lawrence River 

companions at Long Sault on the Ottawa. The four 
corners have each a life-size figure in bronze : a colonist, 
a colonist's wife, an Indian, the dog Pilote, and a 
soldier. 

Omitting mention of the other beautiful squares, 
every one of which deserves description, it will not do 
to forget that ideal park, the beautiful crown of a 
beautiful city, Mount Royal, the noble lookout which 
attracted Cartier as he came up the river, which drew 
like a magnet to its summit the sturdy Champlain, and 
which a little later was climbed to its crest by Maison- 
neuve with the huge cross in his arms he had vowed to 
set up in thankfulness for the escape of the colony from 
flood and famine. Like that huge " Punch Bowl " over- 
looking the beautiful capital of the Hawaiian Islands, 
Honolulu, Mount Royal is really the shoulders of a vol- 
cano with its head blown off. It was in prehistoric 
ages, when it belched forth its molten floods and wrote 
its daily history in letters of fire upon the sky, a high 
mountain, with one foot planted on St. Helen's Island 
and the other far back toward the hoary Laurentides. 
It now lifts its dismantled body 900 feet above the sea, 
and 740 feet above the river. It covers about 450 
acres, and the last purchase of private owners by the 
city was made in i860. No better description of its 
view can be given in as many words than that of the 
poet : 

Changing its hue with the changing sky, 
The River flows in its beauty rare ; 



Canada's "White City" 309 

While across the plain eternal rise 

Boucherville, Rougemont, and St. Hilaire. 

Far to the westward lies La Chine, 
Gate of the Orient long ago, 

When the virgin forest swept between 

The Royal Mount and the River below. 

Upon the one hand we look down upon the busy, 
prosperous city of commerce and inland trade in its very 
substantial form, and not as the devout Jeanne Mance 
saw it, when 

God, lifting for her the veils of space, showed to her, while yet 
in France, in a divine vision, the shores of our isles, and the site of 
Ville-Marie at the foot of the Mountain and on the shore of its 
great River. 

To the north the Riviere des Prairies, a branch of 
the Ottawa, winds downward, while above the island 
rests that jewel of the uplands, the Lake of Two 
Mountains. 

Coming back we reach Jacques Cartier Square, 
where once stood the St. Francis Gate. As we stand 
upon this hallowed spot, the unhappy fate of the four 
Iroquois warriors who perished here rises vividly before 
our mind. Let it be repeated in the words of an eye- 
witness, and, while it is not pleasant reading, it will 
possibly impress us with the fact that not all of the 
barbarism belonged to the untutored race, and that men 
in sacerdotal robes sometimes were more human than 
divine. Let the narrator tell his story : 

When I came to Montreal for the first time it was by the St. 
Francis Gate, and as I was speaking to a friend, I became distracted 



310 The St. Lawrence River 

because of a large crowd that I saw on the Place des Je'suites. There- 
upon my comrade said: "Upon my word, you have come just in 
time to see four Iroquois burned alive. Come on as far as the 
Jesuites, we'll see better." It was immediately in front of their 
door that this bloody tragedy was to take place. I thought at first 
they would throw the poor wretches into the fire; but upon looking 
on all side I saw no faggots for the sacrifice of victims, and I ques- 
tioned my friend about several small fires which I saw certain dis- 
tances apart from each other. He answered me: "Patience; we 
are going to have some good laughing." For some time it was no 
laughing matter. They led out these four wild men, who were 
brothers, and the finest looking men I have even seen in my life. 
Then the Jesuites baptised them and made them some scanty ex- 
hortations; for, to speak freely, to do more would have been "to wash 
the head of a corpse." The holy ceremony finished, they were then 
taken hold of and submitted to punishments of which they were the 
inventors. They bound them naked to the stakes stuck three or four 
feet in the ground, and then each of our Indian allies, as well as sev- 
eral Frenchmen, armed themselves with bits of red-hot iron, where- 
with they broiled all parts of their bodies. Those small fires which 
I had seen served as forges to heat the abominable instruments with 
which they roasted them. Their torture lasted six hours, during 
which they never ceased to chant of their deeds of war. 

Similar scenes to this were enacted in Quebec and 
elsewhere, so the pity is not wholly a one-sided affair. 
We find the streets of the older section of the city 
redolent with memories of a stormy past. Down there 
is a stone marking the spot where Cartier landed in 
t 535. On the site of the present custom-house the gal- 
lant Champlain, the founder of New France, established 
a trading post in 161 1, which he named Place Roy ale. 
At the corner of St. Peter and St. Paul streets was the 
house in which La Salle lived in 1668, two years after 
he came to Montreal. On the corner of the street by 




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Canada' s ' ' White City " 311 

the Parish Church was for a time the home of another 
noted explorer of the Mississippi, Daniel de Gresolon, 
Sieur Dulhut, or Du Luth. Before leaving France in 
1668, he was a soldier in the King's Guard. He passed 
three years in the solitude of the wilderness, and in 
1688 came to Montreal to live. The city of Duluth 
was named for him. On Notre Dame Street, just east 
of St. Lambert Hill, is another tablet which tells its 
own story: "In 1694, here stood the house of La 
Mothe, the founder of Detroit." Near by were the 
homes of Frazer, Henry, Mackenzie, and other great 
fur-traders, who governed the great North-west be- 
fore the vanguard of civilisation had yet reached 
the country. Below Longueuil was the seigniory of 
Pierre Gauthier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verandrye, 
the discoverer of the Rocky Mountains in 1742, and 
who did a great service for Canada by his explorations. 
Where the Bonsecours Market is, was the mansion of 
Baron Longueuil, where the Intendant Bigot stayed 
when in Montreal. Put by the magic mirror. We can- 
not stop to see them all ! 

So far we have talked of sites and memories of 
famous buildings. Now let us visit one that is still 
standing in good preservation, the oldest public build- 
ing in the country, erected in the days of Louis XIV., the 
Chateau de Ramezay. It is doubtful if there is another 
building in America around which cluster so many 
associations of bygone days, so many shades of historic 
figures, so many scenes of social and political life, not 



3i2 The St. Lawrence River 

only in the times of French supremacy, but all along 
the pathway of English dominion. To begin at the 
beginning, as Knickerbocker did in his History of New 
York, this ancient edifice was builded by Claude de 
Ramezay, the eleventh Governor of Montreal, in 1705, 
just two hundred years ago. It was very appropriately 
raised in what was then the heart of the most fashion- 
able and important part of the town. Standing upon a 
slight elevation, scarcely to be noticed now, it had a 
plain view of the river-front. Among its neighbours it 
numbered such illustrious dwellings as the abodes of 
Baron de Longueuil, D'Aillebouts, D'Eschambaults, 
Madame de Portneuf, the widow of Baron Becancourt. 
Its owner was one of the most prominent men of his 
age, holding one important public position after another 
for forty years. He had come to the valley of the St. 
Lawrence in 1685, in his twenty-eighth year, in the suite 
of Governor Denonville. He was a lieutenant under 
De Troye of the marine troops. Two years later he 
had become colonel, and in 1703 he was made Gov- 
ernor, holding that high position until 1724. During 
the attack of Phips against Quebec, he had hastened 
hither with eight hundred men from Montreal. He 
not only performed a gallant part in the defence of 
the city, but won for his prize the heart and hand 
of a fair daughter of Quebec, Mademoiselle Marie- 
Charlotte Deny, who belonged to one of the oldest 
and noblest houses of Canada. Another connected 
with that exciting experience, De Vaudreuil, also, later, 



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Canada's " White City " 3*3 

Governor, was equally fortunate in winning a bride 
almost before the ships of the New Englander had dis- 
appeared behind the Point of Orleans. It seemed like 
the irony of fate that a son of the first should be the 
one to open the gates of Quebec to the English in 
1759, and a son of the latter should perform a similar 
unpleasant service in Montreal a few months later. 

During the regime of Governor de Ramezay the 
chateau was ablaze with the glory of the times. Here 
met many an illustrious assembly, consisting not only of 
the Governor-General, the Intendant, and their suites, 
but the leading military and political spirits of that 
stirring period. Here were held the councils of war, 
and here were considered the terms of peace. Here 
many of the early discoverers bade their last adieu to 
friends and patrons before setting out on their long and 
uncertain voyages, and from here went forth expedi- 
tions into the wilderness in the interests of the fur- 
trade. Upon their return were the plans perfected for 
those annual fairs which were both a curse and a bless- 
ing to Montreal. Hither came the Indian with his 
grievances, the voyageur with his complaints ; and here 
was given to the plague-stricken, during the sorrowful 
reign of the pest, in 1721, the kindly, sympathetic atten- 
tion which won the love and respect of the people for 
the courteous Governor and his amiable wife. Not 
only were the nobleman and his consort sure to find a 
cordial and courteous welcome within the chateau, but 
the humble red man and his squaw met with the same 



3 l 4 The St. Lawrence River 

genial treatment from the noble De Ramezay and his 
family. 

After the death of De Ramezay, in 1724, the pro- 
perty remained with his heirs until 1745, when they sold 
it to la Compagnie des Indes. It then became the head- 
quarters of the fur-trade until 1760, upon the capitu- 
lation of the city to the English. According to the 
treaty, however, the company was allowed to hold the 
chateau for a period longer. In 1764, it was sold to 
William Grant, who paid sixty thousand livres in the 
discredited money of the country to be redeemed by the 
French Government. Ten years later, Grant leased 
the property to the Government for the residence of the 
Lieutenant-Governor, and for the Governor-General 
when in Montreal. 

Soon after this, 1 775-76, the chateau became the head- 
quarters of the Continental army under Montgomery, 
when Canada hesitated between espousing the cause of 
the English colonies or that of their King. The British 
of Canada engaged in the fur-trade looked favourably 
upon the plot, while a large percentage of the French, 
not yet reconciled to their change of masters, naturally 
sympathised with the colonists whose watchword was 
liberty. General Schuyler, in command of the army 
of New York, had been instructed to invade the St. 
Lawrence valley, but falling ill he was succeeded by 
Montgomery. Colonel Ethan Allen, connected with 
Schuyler's army as a volunteer, was sent upon a mission 
of investigation to Montreal, and was captured on the 






Canada's " White City" 315 

25th of September, to be sent to England as a prisoner 
of war, where he was retained until May 3, 1778, when 
he was exchanged. 

The English having but a small force in Montreal at 
the breaking out of the American Revolution, Governor 
Sir Guy Carleton withdrew to Quebec, and, upon the 
arrival of General Montgomery, the citizens capitulated. 
On the morning of the 13th of November, 1775, the 
Continental army marched triumphantly into the city 
by the Recollet Gate, the chateau was made the head- 
quarters of the army, while Montgomery stayed at a 
house on the corner of St. Peter and Notre Dame 
streets owned by a merchant named Fortier. Upon 
being ordered upon that ill-fated expedition to unite 
with Arnold in an attack upon Quebec, Montgomery 
left General Wooster in command. He was succeeded 
by Arnold, who was in command at the time of the 
arrival of the American Commissioners sent to nego- 
tiate terms of compromise with the people. 

These commissioners, Benjamin Franklin, Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, and Samuel Chase, held their 
councils in the chateau, in the room where this is 
written. But, by this time, a feeling of indignation 
against such a movement had been aroused by the 
priests and more loyal British. Reinforced at Quebec, 
Carleton came up the river with such an army that the 
American Commissioners were glad to beat a retreat. 
Among those who came with the commissioners was 
a printer brought by Franklin, whose name was 



316 The St. Lawrence River 

Fleury Mesplet. There was no printer in Montreal at 
that time, and Mesplet set up his cases and hand-press 
in the basement of the chateau. Upon the return to 
Philadelphia of Franklin, Mesplet soon after began to 
publish the Gazette, a weekly newspaper, which is still 
issued, the oldest paper in this part of Canada. 

In 1778, the chateau became the property of the 
British Government, and during the troublesome period 
of insurrection, when a special council was appointed by 
the Governor to succeed the regular officials that 
withdrew, it became the meeting-place of this council, 
1837-41. Pending the decision of new legislation the 
seat of government was removed to Kingston, but in 
1845 Montreal again became the capital, and the 
chateau the headquarters of the Government. 

The passage and adoption of the Rebellion Loss 
Bill, which compensated those who had fought against 
the Government as well as those who stood loyally by it, 
raised such a storm of indignation among the English- 
speaking people of Montreal, that the Governor-Gen- 
eral, upon leaving the chateau after sanctioning the bill, 
was pelted with stones, and other missiles not so severe 
to the flesh but more offensive to the nostrils. During 
the exciting period the Parliament Buildings were burned 
to the ground. This caused the removal of the Gov- 
ernment to Ottawa, and the chateau was no more the 
headquarters of its officials. 

But its usefulness was not past, for it was used as a 
court-house during the reconstruction of the present 



Canada's "White City" 317 

court building. In 1849, it began to be occupied by the 
Jacques Cartier Normal School, the first established in 
Canada, and it was kept here until about 1875, when a 
new building was erected for the school. Then a medi- 
cal branch of the Laval University of Quebec was 
opened in the chateau ; and later, it was occupied as an 
annex to the court-house for his Majesty's court. 

In 1893 the Government, concluding that it had no 
further use for the venerable building, began negotia- 
tions with the city of Montreal for its change of owner- 
ship, which was soon afterwards effected. Then the 
Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Montreal, seeing 
the special fitness of the ancient structure for its head- 
quarters, finally obtained possession in 1895, and to-day 
have on exhibit here one of the finest, if not the finest, 
collections of historical works, portraits of noted individ- 
uals, and museum of relics in the country. Surely a 
happier or more fitting fate could not have befallen it. 
With walls of Montreal granite, grey and white, long 
and rambling, after the architecture of the days of 
Louis, the old landmark is happily located, in a fine 
state of preservation, with every prospect of a beautiful 
old age. Happy Chateau de Ramezay ! would that 
others of our historic buildings might share as appropri- 
ate a fate ! 

Within, one treads upon the footprints of genera- 
tions gone the way of dust, and breathes the atmo- 
sphere of departed spirits. Attended by the courteous 
curator, whose fund of historic lore seems without end, 



318 The St. Lawrence River 

or one of his efficient assistants, the visitor passes from 
room to room with ever-increasing veneration and that 
feeling one might have who comes as an intruder upon 
sacred scenes. This apartment was the family sitting- 
room, where the original owners of the building possibly- 
passed their happiest hours in those troublesome days. 
There was the reception-room, the council-chamber, the 
old hall where so many antagonistic visitors mingled in 
peaceful companionship under the benign influence of 
De Ramezay. There stood the wily Huron, over near 
the deep-set window, while he pleaded in wild, pictur- 
esque language, half spoken, half acted, the cause of his 
unfortunate race. Here stood the fiery Vaudreuil, as 
he made reply. And from a chair standing just over 
there rose the witty De Ramezay, smoothing the rug- 
ged way to peace by his clear, forceful logic. Franklin's 
chair must have stood about where you stand, when, 
with his associates, he undertook to win over Canada to 
the American cause, as he had France. It was here the 
unfortunate Montgomery stood, as he consulted with 
his officers only the day before he went to fight and fall 
for a tablet on Quebec rock. Here, too, came Arnold, 
with his sun at its meridian and the dark clouds of dis- 
honour not yet risen on his horizon, to stand up for his 
people and his country. Others came and went, as 
noble as these. 

Following down the dark stairway, with its broad 
steps, we come to the old kitchen, long and stately, 
with its stone-ledged windows, and huge old fireplace 








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Canada's "White City " 319 

at the farther end, where burned many a giant of the 
forest. What feasts have been prepared here ! What 
roasts of venison ! Those were hardy days, when men 
ate the substances that made them tough and stalwart. 
You see that door over there near the corner ? Behind 
that was the wine vault, larger than this big kitchen, 
and from which came more life and vivacity, too. Ay, 
from thence came the enemy that robbed the eloquent 
Huron on the next floor of the peace that he demanded, 
and did more than all else to ruin his race. 

Fifteen thousand volumes, books and pamphlets, 
have been collected, and relics and curios in large num- 
bers. A section that cannot fail to interest is the Por- 
trait Gallery, from whose walls look down upon the 
beholder a vast company of celebrated actors in scenes 
of American history. Foremost among these are Co- 
lumbus, the discoverer of America ; Cartier, the Colum- 
bus of Canada ; Champlain, the chivalrous knight of 
civilisation ; Jean Baptiste le Moyne de Bienville, born 
1680, died 1768, founded New Orleans, and was Gover- 
nor of Louisiana for twenty-seven years ; a brother of 
the latter, Sieur Pierre le Moyne d'Iberville, born 1661, 
died 1706, founder and first Governor of Louisiana ; 
Daniel Marie Hyacinthe Lienard de Beaujeu, born 
1 71 1, died 1 755, commander of the army of Belle Riviere 
(Ohio), whose troops won the battle of Monongahela 
against Braddock, both of the commanders falling in the 
fight, as Wolfe and Montcalm fell on the Plains of Abra- 
ham four years later ; Lacorne St. Luc, Knight of the 



320 The St. Lawrence River 

Order of St. Louis, and a man of note under the old 
regime ; Chevalier de Levis, born 1720, died 1787, who 
so ably succeeded Montcalm, and won the "second bat- 
tle of the Plains," but was not able to hold it ; Louis 
Joseph de Saint Veran, Marquis de Montcalm, born 
1 71 2, killed on Mount Abraham, 1759. Then there are 
Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester, born 1725, died 1808, 
who fought with Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, and 
with Murray at Ste. Foye, and was Governor-General 
of Canada for twenty years ; General James Murray, 
who succeeded Wolfe as commander of the British army, 
and who has the credit of suggesting the plan of scaling 
the heights at Anse du Foulon ; General James Wolfe, 
born 1726, shot September 14, 1759, by his victory on 
the Plains of Abraham, the virtual conqueror of New 
France ; Charles Cornwallis, Marquis Cornwallis, born 
1738, died 1805, Major-General of the British army 
until his surrender to General Washington at Yorktown, 
October 19, 1781 ; Francois de Montmorenci de Laval, 
born 1622, died 1708, first Roman Catholic Bishop of 
Canada, and a most able and zealous prelate ; Jacques 
Marquette, born 1637, died 1675, one °f the most illus- 
trious missionaries and explorers of Canada, who, with 
Louis Joliet, discovered the Mississippi, June 17, 1673 I 
Le Jeune, the Father of the Jesuit missions in New 
France, born in 1592, came to Canada in 1632, preached 
Champlain's funeral oration in 1635, was first of the ten 
Superiors of the Church, wrote nine of the Relations, 
returned to France in 1650, and died in 1664; Father 



Canada' s " White City " 321 

Jean de Brebeuf, of the Society of Jesus, born 1593, 
died from tortures inflicted by the Indians, 1649, the 
most illustrious of the martyrs of New France ; Gabriel 
Lalement, Jesuit missionary, born 16 10, perished by the 
side of Brebeuf in the Huron country, in 1649, whose 
bones, with those of his companion, were brought to 
Quebec for burial ; Reverend Pere Isaac Jogues, born 
1598, was massacred by the Mohawks October 18, 1646, 
and was the first apostle to the Mission of Martyrs ; 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was one of the commission 
to meet at Chateau de Ramezay, in 1775, and was one 
of the signers of the Declaration of American Independ- 
ence in 1776, dying November 14, 1832, the last of the 
famous group ; Major Robert Rogers, Chief of the New 
England Rangers, who organised and trained the raw 
militia into soldiers of the forest, capable of meeting in 
their own tactics of warfare Montcalm's Indian infantry. 
But the list is too long to complete, and we must quit 
the old chateau and its illustrious guests with reluctance. 
Montreal had a population in 1 760, at the close of 
French government, of about 3000 people ; in 1809 this 
number had reached 12,000. To-day it makes a grand 
total of 350,000 souls. This great number is composed 
of three race divisions, the larger portion being French, 
and comprising about 200,000 ; the English-speaking 
portion, with a strong Scottish element in its make-up, 
numbers about 100,000 ; while the third party, compris- 
ing the Irish Roman Catholic extraction, has about 
50,000 in numbers. 



322 The St Lawrence River 

Montreal, the queenly Maid of the St. Lawrence, 
has a bright future. Nature, as well as man, intended 
her for a great and powerful metropolis. Situated, as 
she is, midway between the ocean and the great Central 
West, with its growing centres of population and com- 
merce, and upon the noblest waterway in America, she 
will continue to grow, to prosper, and to rule the pro- 
gress of Canada. 

Sprung of the saint and the chevalier, 

And with the scarlet tunic wed ; 

Mount Royal's crown upon thy head, 
And past thy footstool, broad and clear, 

St. Lawrence sweeping to the sea : 

Reign on, majestic Ville-Marie ! 



Chapter XXIII 
Climbing the Rapids 

The White Steamer — Hardships of the Early Portages— " Roads of Iron"' — 
La Chine Canal— Nature Outwitted — The Place of Captives— Lake St. Louis 
— The Ottawa— Once a Part of the Great River — Lake St. Francis — Sun- 
set on the River — Cornwall — Crossing the Line — St. Regis — Its Historic Bell 
— First Steamer to Run the Rapids — How it was Done — Prescott — Ancient 
Landmarks — Grave of Barbara Heck — " Patriot War " — Ill-starred Advent- 
ures — the Fenian Insurrection. 

THE number of passengers who pass up the St. 
Lawrence at this section is small compared to 
the crowds that come down. This is due to the 
generally accepted idea that it is a dull journey up to 
Prescott, from Montreal, covering the distance of the 
falls, while the excitement and novelty of " shooting 
the rapids " has given its own peculiar charm and at- 
traction to the downward ride. But if it takes a night 
and a part of ^two days to climb the distance made in a 
few hours coming down, there is an interest and a fas- 
cination in this upward trip which the other does not 
outrival. 

Moving where Cartier led nearly five hundred years 
ago, the steamer, at the upper end of the harbour, enters 
the La Chine Canal, by means of which man has over- 
come the obstacles that a great river has thrown across 

323 



324 The St. Lawrence River 

its passage, those selfsame obstacles that defied and 
baffled both Cartier and Champlain, eager as they were 
to climb to the regions beyond. The first explorer, 
after ascending the river as he judged about two 
leagues, and coming to the foot of the rapids, says : 

We took counsel to go as far as possible with one of the boats, 
and the other should remain there until we returned, so we doubled 
the men in the boat so as to beat against the current of the said rapid. 
And after we had got far from our other boat, we found bad bottom 
and large rocks, and so great a current of water that it was not pos- 
sible to pass beyond with our boat. 

It was then decided to run ashore, and follow up 
the bank to learn the extent of the rapids, finding a 
beaten path along which the natives had passed in 
their journeys up and down the river, carrying their 
canoes. It is not easy at this period of good roads 
and rapid transit to appreciate the vexatious delays and 
perils accompanying the early traveller, whose only way 
of progress was the sedgy streams of the primeval 
forest, and only means of conveyance the birchen skiff 
propelled by his own arm. Abounding with rapids, as 
most Canadian rivers are, blocked with ice in winter, or 
robbed of their volume by the droughts of summer, 
there were not many days in the journeys of the early 
voyageurs when they did not have to check their ad- 
vance, shoulder their baggage and canoe, and tramp on 
foot around the impassable places of the waterway. 
Not infrequently these carrying-places continued for 
miles, even leagues, over broken spurs of mountains, 
or through dismal valleys overrun with parasitic vines 




AN OLD WINDMILL ON LOWER LA CHINE ROAD, MONTREAL. 
From a photograph by W. Notman & Son, Montreal. 



Climbing the Rapids 3 2 5 

and crumbling growths reeking with the sweat and 
slime of ages. 

Perhaps no more plain or sympathetic account of 
such journeys has been given than is to be found in the 
letters of Jesuit missionaries, who of all others were the 
best fitted to judge. One of these, 1 in describing his 
trip up the St. Lawrence, says : 

What detracts from this river's utility is the waterfalls and 
rapids extending nearly forty leagues, — that is from Montreal to 
the mouth of Lake Ontario, — there being only the two lakes I have 
mentioned (Lake St. Francis and Lake St. Louis) where navigation 
is easy. In ascending these rapids it is often necessary to alight 
from the canoe and walk in the river, whose waters are rather low 
in such places, especially near the banks. The canoe is grasped 
with the hand and dragged behind, two men usually sufficing for 
this. . . . Occasionally one is obliged to run it ashore, and 
carry it for some time, one man in front and the other behind — the 
first bearing the one end of the canoe on his right shoulder, and 
the second the other end on his left. . . . It is necessary to land 
and carry all the baggage through woods or over high and trouble- 
some rocks, as well as the canoes themselves. This is not done 
without much work ; for there are portages of one, two, and three 
leagues, and for each several trips must be made, no matter how 
few packages one has. I kept count of the number of portages 
and found that we carried our canoes thirty-five times, and dragged 
them at least fifty. I sometimes took a hand in helping my Sav- 
ages ; but the bottom of the river is full of stones so sharp that I 
could not walk long, being barefooted. 

Something of the deprivations, as well as perils and 
hardships of these journeys, is shown in another place, 
quoting from the same authority, in speaking of the 
Huron mission, which 

lasted more than sixteen years, in a country whither one cannot go 
1 The Jesuit Relations and allied documents. 



326 The St. Lawrence River 

with other boats than of bark, which carry at most only two thou- 
sand livres of burden, including the passengers — who are frequently 
obliged to bear on their shoulders, from four to six miles, along with 
the boat and the provisions, all the furniture for the journey; for 
there is not, in the space of seven hundred miles, any inn. For this 
reason we have passed whole years without receiving so much as 
one letter, either from Europe or from Kebec, and in a total depriv- 
ation of every human assistance, even that most necessary for our 
mysteries and sacraments themselves, — the country having neither 
wheat nor wine, which are absolutely indispensable for the Holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass. 

Further light is thrown upon the manner and asso- 
ciation of the native companions of these humble fol- 
lowers of that faith which made of them priests of the 
wilderness : 

To conciliate the Savages, you must be careful never to make 
them wait for you in embarking. You must provide yourself with 
a tinder-box or a burning-mirror, or with both, to furnish them fire 
in the daytime to light their pipes, and in the evening when they 
have to encamp; these little services win their hearts. You must 
try and eat at daybreak unless you can take your meal with you in 
the canoe; for the day is very long if you have to pass it without 
eating. The Barbarians eat only at Sunrise and at Sunset, when they 
are on their journeys. . . . To be properly dressed you must 
have your feet and legs bare; while crossing the rapids you can wear 
your shoes, and, in the long portages, even your leggins. ... It 
is not well to ask many questions, nor should you yield to your 
desire to learn the language. . . . You must relieve those in 
your canoe of this annoyance. . . . Each one will try, at the 
portages, to carry some little thing, according to his strength; how- 
ever little one carries, it greatly pleases the savages, if it be only a 
kettle. ... Be careful not to annoy any one in the canoe with 
your hat; it would be better to take your nightcap. There is no 
impropriety among the savages. 

These Indian trails were aptly called by the mis- 
sionaries " roads of iron," thus but faintly suggesting 



Climbing the Rapids 3 2 7 

the fatigue and suffering falling to the lot of him whose 
fortunes led him to traverse the way already pressed by 
thousands of feet that failed to leave a single monument 
along the way. Many of these portages became noted 
meeting-places, where different members of the scattered 
tribes met by agreement or by accident for a night's 
bivouac ; or sometimes they became the battle-ground 
of rival clans, an example of this kind being still pointed 
out in the north, beyond the Saguenay, where the hosts 
of Mamelons suffered almost entire annihilation. Usu- 
ally they became scenes of rejoicings and wild excite- 
ment after a long, hard struggle to reach the place 
before the westering sun should take its final plunge 
into the " sea of space " on the far-distant horizon. 

The La Chine Canal was begun in 1821, and though 
at first but five feet deep and twenty-eight feet wide at 
the bottom, widening toward the top until it was forty- 
eight feet, it was a long time in building compared to 
the way such work is done to-day, and many vexations 
and unlooked-for perplexities arose in the path of the 
constructor. Since then it has been enlarged and 
strengthened, until now it is capable of taking up to the 
placid waters of Lake St. Francis the big steamers that 
draw fourteen feet of water. The performance is very 
simple, this outwitting the current too swift to be braved. 
It is easy to fancy, from the glimpse that one gets now 
and then of the river in the distance, that an extra toss 
of indignation is given by the swirling waters as they 
sweep downward in sight of us escaping so easily their 



328 The St. Lawrence River 

rage. This may be only the dream of a dreamer. It 
is not a point for argument. 

Now the portage path has been transformed into a 
link of silver, and the steamer glides gently into its 
narrow canal whose high walls lift their granite sides 
over our heads. A massive gate bars the way, holding 
in leash the mass of water above. Then another gate 
is closed below us, and we are imprisoned between the 
barriers. Men spring to the levers upon the platform 
of the upper gate. The ponderous structure is seen to 
move ; it rises ! The flood-like water everywhere surges 
through the narrow opening, increasing in volume as 
the aperture grows. Our prison is being flooded, and 
as the tide rises we are lifted slowly, until, somewhat to 
our surprise, we are on a level with the pond that a few 
minutes before had threatened to swallow us. The men 
spring to their task again ; the gate swings ajar, and we 
move proudly forward into another reception hall await- 
ing us, another gate to confront us ; the one we have 
passed to be closed behind us ; another filling of the 
basin, and we ride another step higher. In this simple, 
yet majestic way we climb, lock by lock, the rapids of 
La Chine ! 

What is true of these rifts applies to the rapids of 
Split Rock, where we are lifted bodily eighty-two feet 
in three locks, of the Long Sault, and of all inter- 
mediate falls. It is clearly a case of nature outwitted 
and baffled by man. 

From these locks we enter the celebrated Lake St. 



Climbing the Rapids 329 

Louis, whose shores Champlain described as bordered 
with woods of chestnut, groves of walnut trees, and ex- 
tensive meadows fringed with grape-vines. Upon the 
one hand we pass the town of La Chine, founded by La 
Salle soon after he reached Montreal. It was he, too, 
who first selected the site of Chicago as a trading post 
at the time of his wanderings in the region of the 
Illinois. Nearly opposite, as the crow flies, on the 
south bank of the St. Lawrence, stands the Indian 
hamlet of Caughnawaga, which name means " praying 
Indians." It was here that many captives from New 
England, during the border wars, were brought before 
the red captors, who delivered them over to the French 
at Montreal or Quebec. Among others to be held here 
was the young daughter of James Johnson, whose narra- 
tive has been already quoted. Afterwards she was im- 
mured in a nunnery at Montreal, from which her father 
found it impossible to release her, so she was never re- 
united to her family. Her case was not a solitary one, 
as many another bereaved New England family had sad 
occasion to know. 

The shores of Lake St. Louis are among the beauty 
spots of the St. Lawrence. Winding its way reluctantly 
down from the northlands, the stately Ottawa joins 
hands, as it were, here with the "river from the west." 
Immediately our attention is called to a remarkable 
phenomenon of two rivers running side by side in the 
same channel without mingling. Other rivers may 
imitate this attempt, but nowhere is such a marked 



33° The St. Lawrence River 

distinction shown as here, in the deep green of the St. 
Lawrence and the pronounced brown of the Ottawa. 
The latter, it has been boldly asserted, gets its hue from 
the great forests of fir and hemlock covering its head- 
waters. I do not vouch for this. I even doubt it. But 
I do claim that if a seven-league ruler were laid upon 
the water of Lake St. Louis and the boundary marked 
with a magic pencil, the line between these rivers 
could not be more clearly defined ; and they run in 
this close companionship for nearly fifty miles before 
they blend into the deep azure of the Lower St. Law- 
rence. Who can say there is not in this display of jeal- 
ousy a trait common with humanity, and that the lordly 
Ottawa remembers yet the not very distant day when it 
and not the Upper St. Lawrence was the outlet of the 
Great Lakes ? Preposterous as it seems at first thought, 
the geologists offer good proof of the truth of this. 
Furthermore, they tell us that before this period the 
waters of those great inland seas, larger then than now, 
found an outlet by the Mohawk valley and the Hudson 
River. Prior to that period they flowed toward the 
Gulf of Mexico from an outlet at the site of Chicago. 
The next change, that now seems inevitable, is a return 
to this ancient route, when the St. Lawrence will be 
robbed of its glory. But ere that day dawns another 
race may come to shoot its rapids, and another tongue 
to tell its history. 

The next series of steps in the stairways of the 
rapids is the Soulanges Canal, leading from the foot of 



Climbing the Rapids 331 

Cascade Rapids to Couteau Landing, connecting Lake 
St. Louis with Lake St. Francis. This is of more 
recent construction than the other sections, and is one 
of the finest sets of locks in the country, lighted and 
operated by electricity. Originally a canal on the south 
bank, the Beauharnois, overcame the difficulty of navi- 
gation on this portion of the river. It was during the 
passage of the rapids here that a division of General 
Amherst's soldiers was lost. 

The steamer glides gracefully out from the last lock 
upon the breathless bosom of Lake St. Francis just as 
the setting sun touches with its magic pencil, tipped 
with crimson, silver, and gold, the perennial green of the 
landscape and transparent azure of the river. If Japan 
is famed for its beautiful sunrise, and there is no scene 
where the radiance of the morning light is reflected with 
greater glory than on the highlands of the Nikko dis- 
trict ; if Tibet, the " roof of the world," is the favourite 
tenting-ground of the great round moon's legions of 
light, dancing with fantastic glee upon the ascension of 
their queen, then the St. Lawrence deserves especial 
honours for the glory of its sunsets. Certainly, nowhere 
are the curtains of twilight drawn with a more delicate 
hand, and nowhere are the lights and shades blended 
with happier effects. The river lies bathed in silver and 
silence. The broad green meadows repose under the 
tremulous drapery of a June atmosphere. The forest 
on the highlands, its foliage made up of a hundred hues, 
glorifies each quivering beam with its own especial 



33 2 The St. Lawrence River 

charm ; and the kingly pine, that has looked out upon 
thousands of sunsets like this, as if dreaming of child- 
hood's brighter days, suddenly takes on for a moment 
a cheerful brightness, and then swiftly flings aside its 
stolen blush to assume its native gloom. Through the 
great mullioned window of the West stream the lam- 
bent flames of evening. As if the sun would linger 
long over such a fair scene, he opens again and again 
the eye that has grown heavy with watching, and when 
at last the green upon the meadow, the purple upon the 
forest, the umber upon the bank, and the silver upon 
the river have been vanquished by the overmastering 
darkness, we, who watch and wonder, half expect that 
he will re-appear for a farewell good-night. 

The next place of importance on the north bank is 
the bustling town of Cornwall, and here are the last 
series of locks, six in number, and the canal twelve 
miles long, completing the grand ascent of the river, 
which had a total fall between here and Montreal of 
206^ feet. These canals have a navigable depth of 
fourteen feet. The 45th parallel here intersects the 
St. Lawrence, so the river is no longer entirely Cana- 
dian, the line dividing Canada from the United States 
crossing here, as well as making the division between 
the two provinces of the Dominion. 

Nearly opposite Cornwall is the interesting village 
of St. Regis, an Indian town. Amid its grove of trees 
and cluster of houses stands the church having a bell 
that possesses a peculiar and pathetic interest to the 



Climbing the Rapids 333 

descendants of the New England colonists, as well as 
those of Canada. This bell, after being captured from 
the French by an English cruiser, was taken to Salem, 
Massachusetts, and thence to Deerfield. Upon being 
informed that their bell was located here the Indians 
rallied and went upon a raid against the town. Sur- 
prising the inhabitants they massacred nearly fifty, and 
took back to Canada with them over a hundred captives, 
and the bell, which now hangs in the St. Regis church. 
The boat comes to the end of its trip at Prescott, 
where the passengers going farther up the river, as 
nearly all are, must change to one of the more pala- 
tial steamers that ply between this town and Toronto. 
These latter, on account of their size, cannot pass the 
locks. The first large boat to attempt the passage of 
the river below here was the Ontario, built at Niagara 
about 1840. She proved to be very speedy, and was 
purchased by men at Montreal for a mail boat between 
that city and Quebec. The trade closed, the next thing 
was to get the boat down to Montreal, no craft any- 
where near its size having attempted to run the rapids. 
The best pilots then on the river, two Indians known as 
" Old Jock " and " Old Pete," were secured for the 
hazardous undertaking, the owners promising them one 
thousand dollars each if they accomplished their enter- 
prise successfully. The manner in which they made 
this initial voyage is best described by that old veteran 
of the Upper St. Lawrence, Captain Johnston : 

First, a crib was made forty feet square, with pine floats ten 



334 The St. Lawrence River 

feet apart, with stakes ten feet long driven in each square, project- 
ing downward. When all was ready some Indians were sent to the 
foot of the rapids and some were stationed in the trees on the side 
of the rapids. Several Indians towed the crib to the head of the 
rapids with their canoes and let go of it. Then every Indian 
watched the course it took as the crib sped on its way with the cur- 
rent of the stream. When it reached the foot of the rapids the crib was 
turned over, and it was found that none of the stakes were broken. 
That was a positive indication that there was water enough to run 
the Ontario through. The Indians then boarded the steamer. Each 
Indian piloted the Ontario as far as he had observed the crib's 
course. The only white man on board was the engineer, who also, 
I was told, received one thousand dollars. This story I got from 
" Old Jock," who used to pilot us, and who ran us through the La 
Chine Rapids nine times without mishap. 

In this way, in 1843, was the first steamer taken 
down the rapids, and a descendant of one of these 
pioneer pilots now guides with a trusty hand the 
steamer of to-day that follows in the track of the On- 
tario. The next steamers to follow this course were the 
Canada and America, in 1858 or 1859, according to the 
authority above quoted. It is said that only one white 
man undertook to run the La Chine Rapids in those 
early days, and his name was Roebuck. 

Prescott is a stone-built town, with a great distillery 
and brewery and two iron foundries, and a population 
of about four thousand. It was named for General 
Prescott, and has on the east the bastions of Fort Wel- 
lington, named for the Iron Duke. Prescott is filled 
with historic memories, and has many places of interest 
to the historian. Among these is the little church, said 
to be the oldest Methodist church in Canada, where 




M HH 



Climbing the Rapids 335 

Barbara Heck, one of the founders of that faith in the 
valley of the St. Lawrence, held meetings. In the little 
yard is her grave, marked by a plain marble slab. 
Other spots of interest are the old blockhouse, still in a 
good state of preservation, and filled with memories of 
warlike days ; and the old windmill, which the Govern- 
ment has since converted into a lighthouse. 

This ancient landmark figured conspicuously in the 
closing scene of what has been somewhat derisively 
called " the patriot war," one of the most foolish and 
insane projects ever set on foot by men burning for 
notoriety. The scheme seems to have originated among 
some fanatics of Northern New York, and had for its 
purpose the overthrow of the Canadian Government. 
This was during the period mentioned in the descrip- 
tion of Chateau de Ramezay, and the burning of the 
Parliament Buildings in Montreal. In the summer of 
1837, the leader of the so-called "reform party," Wil- 
liam Lyon McKenzie, with General Van Rensselaer, 
established a station on Navy Island in the Niagara 
River, having a force of three hundred men. It was 
claimed that the Government committed wrongs equal 
to those the British had inflicted upon the American 
colonists, but the leaders of the " patriots " only de- 
manded restitution and recognition. Untoward events, 
however, were soon to turn the tide of politics into 
more warlike channels. A small steamer, called the 
Caroline, was employed in taking passengers and freight 
between the island and Buffalo, and this one night was 



336 The St. Lawrence River 

boarded by a company of British soldiers, fired, and 
sent adrift over Niagara Falls. This act inflamed the 
"patriots," and one William Johnston, of evil repute, 
became the acknowledged leader. He fortified himself 
upon an island within the United States line. His 
daughter Kate became the trusted informant for John- 
ston and his band of rebels. On the night of May 
30, 1838, Johnston and his followers, disguised as In- 
dians and armed with muskets and bayonets, boarded 
the Canadian steamer, Sir Robert Peel, while en route 
between Brockville and Toronto with twenty passen- 
gers and a large amount of money to pay off the troops 
in the Upper Province. The night was dark and rainy, 
and with the watchword, " Remember the Caroline" 
the " patriot" band ordered the passengers and crew 
to take to the boats, following which they set fire to 
the steamer and left her to her fate. The sunken hull 
is still to be seen where she went down. Johnston 
then made a personal declaration of war, and it became 
evident the Canadian Government had got to take de- 
cisive action to check the threatened invasion. The 
result of this matter was the landing at Prescott of a 
force of the "patriots," under command of one Von 
Schoultz, who had entered into the struggle with ill- 
conceived idea of what it meant. This company took 
possession of the old windmill, and were routed only 
when thirty-six of the British soldiers and nineteen of 
the rebels had been killed, besides many wounded on 
both sides. Most of the " patriot " leaders had now 



Climbing the Rapids 337 

deserted the cause, and this ended the outbreak. Sev- 
eral of the insurgents were hanged, among them Von 
Schoultz, whose fate was a most unhappy one, as it did 
not appear that he had really understood the crime 
he was committing. He left a legacy of ten thousand 
dollars for the benefit of the British families of those 
who had been killed. The ill-advised affair had even a 
wider influence, as it involved several prominent Ameri- 
can politicians in the melee on account of the decided 
action they took against some of those in New York 
who sympathised with the " patriots." President Van 
Buren lost many votes on account of it, while General 
Scott believed that he lost the Whig nomination for 
the Presidency owing to the fact that he had been in- 
strumental in putting down the rebellion. 

During the Fenian insurrection in 1865-66, Prescott 
was again the scene of warlike excitement, when the 
Fenian forces encamped here upon the eve of the in- 
tended invasion of Canada. Happily these and many 
other disturbing scenes have passed into memory, and 
the quiet old town lies dreaming of the day when she 
shall awaken to the possibilities nature has promised 
her. 



Chapter XXIV 
The Gateway to the West 

Mission of La Presentation — Ogdensburg — Brockville — Romance of the Thousand 
Islands — A Daughter's Devotion to a Father — Carleton Island — " Lost Chan- 
nel" — Memory of a Bonaparte — Origin of the Feud between the Iroquois 
and the Algonquins — Legend of the League of the Five Nations — Tradition 
of Hiawatha — Cooper's "Station Island" — Gananoque — " The Place of the 
Deer " — A Poet's Tribute — Kingston, the Limestone City — Conclusion. 

THE St. Lawrence is about a mile wide between 
Prescott and the city of Ogdensburg. The lat- 
ter place is builded near the site of the Onon- 
daga mission, established by the French in 1 749, at the 
mouth of the Oswegatchie 1 River. Its founder was a 
Sulpician, named Francis Picquet, and, despite the at- 
tack of Mohawks, flourished so well that in two years a 
sawmill was erected here. It was given the name of 
La Presentation, and created considerable uneasiness 
among the English already at Oswego. An Indian 
runner, appearing suddenly at the latter place, said : 
" As I came through the forest I heard a bird sing, and 
he sang that a great many Indians from his castle, 
and many others from the Five Nations, have gone to 
Swegage." This mission was maintained until 1760. 
The Indians and their descendants continued to live 

1 Indian term, meaning " place where the water flows around the hills." 

338 



The Gateway to the West 339 

about here until 1806, when a part of them went to St. 
Regis, and the balance to Onondaga upon the demand 
of the landowners. Over the door of the State arsenal 
building is a block taken from a stone structure that 
once stood near the site of the present lighthouse, 
which has the following inscription : 

" In nomine Dei Omnipotentis 
Huic habitationi initia dedit 
Frans. Picquet. 1749." 

While the Treaty of 1783 fixed the St. Lawrence 
River as the boundary line between the United States 
and Canada, the English continued to occupy Oswe- 
gatchie as a trading station, "to protect their interests," 
as they claimed. This created great dissatisfaction on 
the part of the Americans, but it was not remedied 
until the " Jay Treaty " stipulated that all English posts 
in the United States should be abandoned on or before 
June 1, 1796. Immediately after, Mr. Samuel Ogden, 
who had obtained a controlling interest here, com- 
menced to improve the place, which has continued to 
prosper ever since. It was named in his honour. 

So this modern city stands upon the ruins of an 
ancient town, whose inhabitants mainly belonged to 
that vanished people who were the Romans of America. 
As Ogdensburg is to-day a great railroad centre, where 
two main lines meet, even before the building of La 
Presentation mission this place was an important posi- 
tion, where the old Indian trails of the Mohawk and 



34° The St. Lawrence River 

St. Lawrence valleys crossed, the course of these being 
closely followed by the iron horse of modern travel. 

At the foot of the Thousand Islands, upon the 
Canadian shore, stands the beautiful city of Brockville, 
with something like ten thousand inhabitants. The 
first settlers of this town were United Empire Loyal- 
ists, who came here soon after the close of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, which left them outlaws in their own 
country. All through the war of 18 12-15, this town 
was the scene of exciting interest, and was captured by 
an American force, under command of a Captain For- 
syth, of Ogdensburg. 

From this fair city, with its pictured rock, speaking 
to us in the art of a vanished hand of savage super- 
stition and reparation, we come to where lie 

New meadows white, where daisies grow, 
Near where St. Lawrence whispers low; 
Near sylvan dells, where Nature smiles, 
Earth's paradise, the Thousand Isles. 

There is poetry in the name, romance in all that 
clusters about the scene hallowed with a thousand 
historic memories. Here Cooper, our own Scott, found 
inspiration for his greatest novel, and here another of 
their gift might find material for a series of American 
Waverly novels whose interest would not be less than 
those of Scottish loch and land. 

He would find here mighty fortresses built by no human hand, 
castles made more secure by natural bulwarks than moat or barbi- 
can could make them, hidden by bays in which a fleet might hide, 
channels three hundred feet deep winding between wooded islands 




Q S 






The Gateway to the West 34 * 

and secure waterways. Ellen's Isle, made famous by the Wizard 
of the North, is reproduced here in a hundred forms, and Loch 
Katrine has scores of rivals at our very door. 

Scarcely one of the islands that dot the unruffled 
surface of the lake, 

As quiet as spots of sky 
Among the evening clouds, 

does not have its tradition, mellowed by the passing 
years, of love and war, heroism and intrigue, plot 
and sacrifice. No fairer example of filial devotion is 
shown than in the character of brave Kate Johnston, 
who stood by her father so loyally during his exile 
while engaged in the "patriot war." "The Devil's 
Oven," the secluded isle where he found, concealment 
for over a year, still belongs to one of her descendants, 
for she was happily married when she had succeeded in 
securing her father's pardon for any misdemeanour he 
may have committed. He became a lighthouse keeper, 
while she was loved and respected for her devotion to 
him through the dark days of his outlawry. 

Carleton Island during the War of the American 
Revolution was the most important post above Mont- 
real. This was a refuge place for the Tories of New 
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Here the re- 
nowned chief of the Six Nations, Thayendanagea, had 
his rendezvous. Many councils of war were held, and 
many a bloody raid had its birthnight here. Among 
these may be mentioned the heartrending massacres of 
Wyoming and Cherry Valleys, the Cedars and Stony 



34 2 The St. Lawrence River 

Arabia, while from this island sallied forth the band of 
avengers who made their terrible midnight attack upon 
Deerfield, Massachusetts, for the rescue of the bell of 
St. Regis. Lying in the course of the old Indian trail 
from the Long House of the Iroquois to the waterway 
leading to the vale of the Hurons and the Ottawa 
beyond, it was also crossed by the canoe-path of the 
St. Lawrence and Ontario. The early French explor- 
ers named it He aux Chevreuzls, or "Isle of Roebucks." 
Realising the importance of its situation, it was a favour- 
ite resort for both the French and English until, just 
before the beginning of the eighteenth century, the 
British erected upon the crest of the bluff overlooking 
the American channel a fortress known as Fort Haldi- 
mand, and also as Fort Carleton. Not very many years 
since, the traveller up and down the river could see the 
dismantled chimney. Now the island has become the 
beautiful resort of summer pleasure-seekers, and only 
fragmentary tales remain of those thrilling days of 
frontier wars. 

One of the most romantic incidents of this portion 
of the St. Lawrence is ths story of the Lost Channel, 
which is connected with the French and Indian War of 
1756-63. Lord Amherst, in command of the English 
troops, was en route from Oswego upon his expedi- 
tion against Montreal. Quebec had capitulated, and 
though De Levis, in command of the French troops, 
was playing a bold hand, it was not believed he could 
hold out much longer. Murray was already moving up 



The Gateway to the West 343 

the St. Lawrence toward Montreal, Colonel Haviland 
was hammering at the defences on the Richelieu, and 
with Amherst's naval and military force of ten thousand 
strong victory seemed certain. The only French strong- 
hold between Oswego and Montreal at that time was 
La Presentation, known to the English as Fort Levis. 
This was the same station mentioned in the description 
of early Ogdensburg. 

As Lord Amherst was moving gaily down the Lake 
of the Thousand Islands, his fleet consisting of two 
armed vessels, the Mohawk and the Onondaga, and a 
number of boats, the lookout of the latter ship dis- 
covered a bateau carrying a party of French soldiers 
putting out from Deer Island, since renamed Carleton 
Island. The captain gave swift pursuit, at the same 
time signalling the Mohawk to follow. A lively race 
ensued, and after going several miles, before the Onon- 
daga could get within range of the French boat, it dis- 
appeared down a narrow channel between a large island 
and a group of smaller islands. Unwilling to give up 
the chase the Onondaga followed, and when about 
midway of the channel the vessel received a whole 
broadside from the wooded banks of the islands hem- 
ming it in. It then became evident that the whole 
affair had been planned to entrap the unwary English. 
The decks of the war-ship were literally swept with the 
leaden hail of the concealed French and Indians ; but 
the English returned this fire so fast and furiously 
that the allied forces were completely routed. It now 



344 The St. Lawrence River 

became necessary to find the way out, and for this pur- 
pose a boat was despatched to find a passage. Another 
party, under the command of the coxswain, named 
Terry, was sent with a message to Captain Fordham 
of the Mohawk to return to the main channel. This 
duty Coxswain Terry performed, but after he left the 
Mohawk to return to the Onondaga neither he nor his 
crew were ever heard of. The latter ship succeeded in 
finding her way out, and waited a league below until 
the Mohawk came along. Then it was learned that 
Terry and his men were missing. Though they were 
anxiously awaited, and boats were sent out to find them, 
nothing was ever learned of their fate. It was sup- 
posed they had got bewildered in the intricate windings 
of the waterways between the islands, and, unable to 
find the channel followed by the Onondaga, had fallen 
into the hands of the enemy. Whether that was true or 
not, the place has been known ever since as "The 
Lost Channel." 

When satisfied that Coxswain Terry and his crew 
were not to be found, Lord Amherst resumed his 
descent of the river, stopping on his way to capture La 
Presentation, the torch being applied to the dismantled 
walls of the fort. As the war-ships sailed away, only 
the charred ruins and a solitary chimney were left to 
mark the spot. The latter stood for many years as a 
landmark, giving to the island upon which it had been 
erected the name it still bears, "Chimney Island." The 
expedition reached the upper end of Montreal Island, 






The Gateway to the West 345 

at La Chine, in safety, and, co-operating with Murray 
and Haviland, effected an easy victory over De Levis 
and his depleted ranks. 

Associated with these charming waters, gemmed 
with their diamonds cut from fairyland, is the memory 
of a Bonaparte, a brother of the great Napoleon. The 
romantic story of this exiled nobleman, who desired to 
be known in this country as Count de Survilliers, and 
his connection with the history of this region is inter- 
esting enough, but too long, to be given here. He was 
afforded no greater pleasure than in skimming these 
"ribbons of water" in pursuit of his favourite pastime, 
fishing, while he was a constant visitor at Cape Vincent, 
where a kindred spirit had taken up his abode. Not 
far away is that beautiful lake, a favourite resort of his, 
which still bears his family name, and which, with its 
sparkling surface and isles scattered with a prodigal 
hand over its glassy surface, reproduces in miniature 
the grand archipelago of the " Lake of the Thousand 
Islands." 

The list of "memory isles" might be continued 
almost indefinitely if one desired. As this region is 
to-day the boundary line between two great countries, 
so it was for unnumbered years the border-range of two 
of the most powerful clans of the dusky brotherhoods 
inhabiting the ancient wilds of America. Upon the 
north and the east roamed, lords of forest and river, the 
haughty Algonquins, noted as the greatest hunters of 
the land. To the south of Manatoana (the Thousand 



34 6 The St. Lawrence River 

Islands) dwelt, in the valleys of its rivers and lakes, the 
Iroquois, who lived by fishing and cultivating the soil. 
They boasted of great fields of tasselled corn and large 
apple orchards, and looked with disdain upon the ex- 
citement of the chase. If of different tastes and habits, 
these people of the wilds lived side by side in harmony 
for many a changing season. 

Upon certain times it had been the practice for the 
young men of the two families to hunt and fish together, 
it always being the rule that whichever party should kill 
the fewer of the game animals, or spear the fewer fish, 
should skin and dress the fruits of their united efforts. 
Usually the Algonquins were the fortunate ones. In fact, 
it became looked upon as a certainty that the Iroquois 
were to do the " squaw " work, while the others enjoyed 
the running to earth of the noble game. Thus the former 
began to decline a sport that really did not fall to their 
lot. Occasionally they would join in the chase to please 
their neighbours, and upon one of the last hunts, when 
the Algonquins had boastfully declared that the young 
Iroquois would have little to do but care for the game 
they brought down, the mighty hunters of the St. Law- 
rence valley went forth to slay the unwary victims of the 
wilderness. But somehow now their vaunted skill failed 
them. Though the woods ran thick with tempting 
game, they followed their quest in vain for three days. 
Then the Iroquois, elated over the failure of their rivals, 
though they had been careful not to betray this feeling, 
offered to try their hand. The Algonquins readily 



The Gateway to the West 347 

agreed to this, thinking no better result would fall to 
their lot, and that such a failure would compensate for the 
wounds upon their own honour. Their disappointment 
may be imagined when the Iroquois, looked upon as wo- 
men on the hunt, came in with an abundance of game. 

The Algonquins sullenly held their peace, but, their 
pride, sorely wounded, they vowed among themselves 
to have revenge. That night, while the tired hunters 
slept, every one of them was slain. The murderers de- 
nied their deed, and it was a long time before the 
friends of the dead learned the truth. Then they mildly 
asked that justice should be done the slayers. A coun- 
cil was called, but the Algonquins evaded the matter of 
a settlement, and tried to satisfy the others with honeyed 
words. This failed of its purpose. Aroused to a fierce 
pitch of indignation, the Iroquois proved that they were 
warriors as well as " squaw-men." By the fires of their 
prophets, by the honour of their women, by the sign of the 
Great Spirit, they swore they would never rest — they 
nor their children, even to the last generation — until 
the last Algonquin had been swept from the earth. 
This explains the origin of that terrible feud which ex- 
isted between these rival races at the coming of the 
white men, and which continued to rage, drawing into 
its toils the French and the English, all through the 
long, dark years of border warfare. If given as a story, 
there seems to be a foundation of truth beneath it. 

In this connection it may not be out of place to say 
that the origin of the legend relating to the formation 



348 The St. Lawrence River 

of the League of the Iroquois, so beautifully described 
by Longfellow in his immortal poem of Hiawatha, 
belongs to this realm of lakes and islands, though the 
poet gives no hint of this. It was upon the calm blue 
waters of the Lake of a Thousand Islands that the two 
young men of the Onondaga nation were gazing, when 
they saw, as if in a vision, the white canoe driven over 
the water by the strong arm of the river god, who 
proved to be, upon nearer approach, an old, but vener- 
able, man. With a single oar he sped his light canoe 
toward them, not so much as a murmur of the wind 
breaking the silence as he approached, his brow fixed in 
deep thought. He did not seem to notice them until 
he had reached the shore, and, drawing up his majestic 
form to a great height, exclaimed aloud that name 
which told them beyond doubt that he was the deity 
who reigned over the waters and their inhabitants. He 
then invited them to go with him upon a voyage over 
the river, showing them many wonderful sights they had 
not dreamed of, and when promising to clear the sedgy 
channels environing the charming plots of land, he 
warned them of the approach of war, and counselled a 
union of nations. He even, through these young men, 
called a council of the different tribes, and during the 
meeting of that assembly was formed the League of 
the Five Nations, which became so famous. His mis- 
sion accomplished, Hi-a-wat-ha, as he chose to be known, 
paddled his snowy canoe out upon the lake, to disappear 
as mysteriously as he had come. 



The Gateway to the West 349 

The admirer of Cooper's interesting tale of The 
Pathfinder, while aware that the author does not at- 
tempt to describe the exact spot, locates the culminating 
scenes of his story upon what he calls " Station Island." 
According to the historical facts that are woven about 
it, there is little doubt of its being one of the " Admir- 
alty Group," located in the Canadian channel above 
Gananoque. The time was toward the close of the 
French and Indian War, when the English were sta- 
tioned at Oswego, the French at Fort Frontenac, now 
Kingston, and controlling the river. The supplies of 
the latter came up the St. Lawrence from Montreal, and 
it was prudent that the English should keep a sharp 
lookout for these provisioned bateaux and the arrival 
of any troops that might be sent into these waters. In 
order to carry out their purpose the British actually 
established places of concealment. This idea is corrob- 
orated by Mr. J. R. Haddock, who says, in speaking of 
the situation of Cooper's island : 

It is evident that this very group of islands (Admiralty Group) 
would be the one chosen for such a hiding place for several reasons. 
First, it was nearer Oswego; second, the chances of recapture were 
lessened; third, the opportunity of watching the approach of a fleet 
of bateaux unseen. If the hiding place had been chosen in the 
Lower or Naval Group, the chances of a recapture would have been 
materially increased. On " Station Island " a lookout could be kept 
on the river below, so that the French on the mainland could be 
watched; so that the island itself could hardly be distinguished 
from those by which it was surrounded. One island in this group 
fulfils the conditions, and there is not another among all the Thou- 
sand Islands that does; and hence the presumption that the island 
is here, and that it borders on the Bostwick Channel. 



35o The St. Lawrence River 

Nearly opposite here, upon the Canadian shore, is 
the pretty town of Gananoque, with a population of be- 
tween four and five thousand. It is situated at the 
mouth of a small river by the same name, which was an 
Indian term meaning, it is claimed, "The Place of the 
Deer." The first settlers were loyalists, who came here 
from the State of Connecticut at the close of the Ameri- 
can Revolution. One of them, Sir John Johnson, was 
commander of an organisation known as "Johnson's 
Royal Greens." He received a grant for the territory 
now including the village in conjunction with Colonel 
Joel Stone, who became its most enterprising founder. 
Gananoque is now aptly styled the Birmingham of 
Canada, its water-power and commercial advantages 
fully entitling it to this distinction. 

And now after our round trip of nearly two thousand 
miles, from Ontario to the ocean and back again, we 
find ourselves approaching the place from which we 
started, " where the lake and the river meet." In paying 
a last look upon the beautiful scene we are reluctantly 
leaving the tender tribute of Cremazie, the sweet-voiced 
singer of Canada, comes to mind : 

When Eve plucked death from the tree of life, and brought 
tears and sorrows upon the earth, Adam was driven out into the 
world to mourn with her, and taste from the bitter spring that we 
drink to-day. Then the angels on their wings bore the silent Eden 
to the eternal spheres on high, and placed it in the heavens; but in 
passing through space they dropped along the way, to mark their 
course, some flowers from the Garden Divine. These flowers of 
changing hues, falling into the great river, became the Thousand 
Isles, the paradise of the St. Lawrence. 




6 s 



The Gateway to the West 35 1 

Within sight of this happy retreat at the head of 
the St. Lawrence River, with Lake Ontario upon one 
hand and the Great Cataraqui or Rideau River upon 
the other, stands Kingston, connected to Ottawa by 
rail and canal ; to the west by the lakes ; to the east 
Montreal, Quebec, and the ocean, by rail and river St. 
Lawrence, it is the most happily located city in Canada. 
While the attractions of both Quebec and Montreal are 
not to be forgotten, this would seem to combine the 
favours of the others. As a military station it stands 
next to Quebec, while its harbour is deep, commodious, 
and well protected. 

The early explorers and defenders of the valley of 
the St. Lawrence showed keen foresight in their selec- 
tion of outposts, and scarcely one played a more import- 
ant part in the border wars than Kingston, first known 
in the days of its founding by La Salle as Cataraqui, 
and then as Fort Frontenac. The last name still 
clings to the county, but even the name of the fort that 
he built, which was destroyed by the English in 1758, 
to be rebuilt soon after, was renamed Fort Henry. 
When Carleton Island, first selected as a military sta- 
tion, came within the American lines, Kingston was 
chosen as the stronghold for the English, and it has 
since gained the name of the Sandhurst, or the West 
Point of Canada. But with its Martello towers and 
martial atmosphere clinging to it, the Limestone City is 
far more than a military school or a place of defence. 
Upon the separation of Canada into two provinces, 



35 2 The St. Lawrence River 

Kingston became the first capital of the province of 
Ontario, or Upper Canada, as it was then called. Dur- 
ing the period of the United Provinces of Upper and 
Lower Canada, 1841 to 1844, the legislature met here. 

Considerable shipbuilding has been done, and it 
has become a great grain depot. At the time of the 
War of 18 1 2, the Duke of Wellington advised the con- 
struction of a route to Montreal independent of that 
by the St. Lawrence, and the outcome was the Rideau 
Canal, built at a cost of nearly four million dollars. 
This connected Kingston to Ottawa, but the railroad 
some time since relegated the canal to the use of pleas- 
ure travel. It winds through one of the most pictur- 
esque sections of the country. 

This city is also a great educational centre, and its 
colleges are of national importance. Among these may 
be mentioned the Queen's University, School of Art, 
Science Hall, Royal Medical College, School of Gun- 
nery, School of Mining, and several others deserving of 
notice. Considerable manufacturing is done here, and 
altogether it would appear as if the city should be larger 
than it is, having about twenty thousand inhabitants. 

Here we bid, not adieu, but au revoir, to the noble 
St. Lawrence, typical of the wonderful swing and free- 
dom of nature. We see evidence of this everywhere. 
We see it in its vast volume of crystal water, now gather- 
ing its forces for a plunge down some mighty incline ; 
anon smoothing its ruffled bosom before one of those 
great mirrors suggestive of the source whence it has 



The Gateway to the West 353 

brought its offering. But whether driven by rapids, or 
loitering by some sleepy lake, it ever maintains its hold 
upon the grand, the immense, the sublime. Never does 
it degrade its dignity, or militate its majesty. Winding 
between the green banks of some pastoral region, sin- 
ister sentinels of rock-walls, by city gates, or open coun- 
try, it ever displays its cheerful brightness, reflects the 
deep azure of the northern sky, and sweeps on with 
magnificent mien, as if conscious of its gigantic work of 
draining half a continent, of carrying to the sea in its 
great drinking-horn one-third of all the fresh water on 
the globe. 



Index 



Abnaki Indians, as allies to the 
French, 159; settled at St. 
Francis, 271 

Ailleboust, Sieur d' , as governor, 119 

Algonquin Indians, as allies of 
Champlain, 62 sqq.; settled at Sil- 
lery, 98; with Daulac, 126 sqq.; 
settled at St. Regis, 271; origin 
of feud with Iroquois, 346 sqq. 

Allen, Colonel Ethan, in Montreal, 

314 r, . • 

American Commissioners, 1775, in 

Montreal, 315 

American invasion of Canada, 200 
sqq., 206 sqq. 

Amherst, Lord, move against Mon- 
treal, 341 sqq. 

Anse du Foulon, gully of, 182; 
Wolfe's ascent of, 184 sqq.; not 
difficult of ascent, 261; plan sug- 
gested by Murray, 320 

Anticosti Island, 20 

Arnold, Benedict, 200; expedition 
to Quebec, 200 sqq.; disappoint- 
ed in Canadian peasants, 202 ; 
in command of American forces 
in Canada, 205; how near he 
came to gaining a victory at 
Quebec, 261; hardships of the 
"terrible carrying-place," 287 

Ashuapmouchouan River, 221 

Asiatic cholera in the St. Lawrence 
valk^r, 210 

Atlas, first, of Western Hemisphere, 

15 
Aubert, Thomas, 15 
Aux Braves, 262 



B 



Baie St. Paul, 232 

Bateaux, Pather, 99 

Battle of the Plains, 186 sqq.; 

second "battle of the Plains," 

193 sqq. 



Beaujeu, Daniel Marie de, 319 
Beaumanoir, ruins of, 254; Chateau 

of, 255 sqq.; legend of, 257 sqq.; 

to-day, 259 
Beauport, village of, 246 sqq., 253 
B6cancourt, mission of, 98 
Berthier, 291 
Bic, 31 

Bienville, Jean Baptiste de, 319 
Bigot, Francois, character, 178; 

companions of, 255; revelry at 

Beaumanoir, 255; against M. 

Phillibert, 265 
Birds of Canada, 290 sqq. 
Bonaparte, the name associated 

with the Upper St. Lawrence, 

345 
Bonaventura Island, 28 
Bougainville, General de, 177 
Bourlamaque, General de. 177 
Brant, leader of the Mohawks, 69; 

settled in Canada, 206 
Breadth of the St. Lawrence River, 

4 
Brebeuf , Jean de, arrives in Quebec, 

83; goes to Huron country, 84; 

masters Indian tongue, 105; his 

farewell, 273; a martyr to his 

cause, 321 
Bref Recit, 1 7 

Breton, first French name, 26 
British American Land Company, 

289 sqq., 294 
British treatment of the Indians, 

68 sqq. 
Brockville, 8, 340 
Brown, William, founder of the 

first printing office in Canada, 

92 sqq.; one of the founders of 

the first newspapers, 93 
Bushrangers, 162 



C 



Cadieux, his fight against the In- 
dians, 169; Lament de Cadieux, 
170 



355 



356 



Index 



Caen, Emeric de, occupancy of 
Quebec, 82 

Canada, name of, 40 ; geographical 
names of, 40, 272 

Canadian line, 332 

Cap aux Corbeaux, 59, 227 

Cape Chat, 31 

Cape Cod, visited by De Monts, 57 

Cape Diamond, 249 

Cape Gasp£, 20 

Cap Est, 219 

Cap Ouest, 219 

Cap Rouge, 43, 47; Wolfe's vessels 
anchored off, 183 

Carleton, Sir Guy, in command of 
English forces at Quebec, 201; 
profited by mistake of Montcalm, 
202 sqq.; victorious, 205; Eng- 
lish commander, 320 

Carleton Island, scene of many 
councils of war, 341 sqq. 

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, in 
Montreal, 315, 321 

Cartier, Jacques, the Pathfinder, 
16; first voyage, 19; course, 19 
sqq.; second voyage, 20 sqq.; 
visits Hochelaga, 34 sqq.; his 
"white winter" at Quebec, 37 
sqq.; capture of Donnacona, the 
Indian chief, 39; result of ex- 
plorations, 39; maps and publi- 
cations, 41 ; third voyage, 42 sqq.; 
last days, 49; offered mass first 
time in Canada, 231 sqq.; in his 
wake to-day, 290 sqq.; landing- 
place at Hochelaga now marked, 
310; pen portrait of, 263 

Castin, Baron de, 257; his daugh- 
ter, 257 

Cataraqui, fort of, 142 

Cathay, passage to, 21 

Catholicism in Europe, 18; results 
there led to discoveries in Amer- 
ica, 19 

Catholics in Canada, 279 sqq. See 
missions and missionaries 

Caughnawaga, Indian town, 329 

Chaleur, Bay of, 19 

Chambly, Jacques de, Captain, 299; 
fort of, 296 sqq. 

Champlain, Samuel de, 52; first 
voyage up the St. Lawrence, 54; 
his narrative, 55; in Acadia, 56; 
explores New England coast, 57; 
carried first colonists to Canada, 
59; his second voyage up the 
"great river," 59; anchors in 
harbour of Quebec, 60 ; founds the 



town, 61; plot to murder him, 
62 ; allies himself with the St. 
Lawrence Indians, 62 ; raid 
against the Iroquois, 63 sqq.; 
discovers the lake that bears his 
name, 65; encounters the Mo- 
hawks, 67; returns in triumph, 
68; marries, 70; his raid against 
the Onondagas, 7 1 ; efforts for 
the common people, 73; given 
command of the king's battle- 
ships, 78; in full power, 83; 
fails to receive sufficient aid 
from France, 83 sqq.; saves the 
honour of New France, 80 ; flag of, 
80 sqq.; death, 85; character, 
85 sqq.; sepulture, 86; felled the 
first tree, 250; pen portrait of, 
263; monument, 264; first house 
built by him, 266; fort at Three 
Rivers, 272 sqq.; trading post at 
Montreal, 310 

Champlain, Lake, scenery of, 65 
sqq.; main war-trail to Canada, 
296; "Grand Pass," 297 

Champlain, Madame de, imbued 
with religious zeal, 108; Helen's 
Isle, in her honor, 303 

Chansons de voyage, 167 sqq. 

Charlesbourg, 25$ sqq. 

Chase, Samuel, member of American 
Commission, 315 

Chateau of Beaumanoir, 255 sqq.; 
legend of, 257 sqq.; its ruins of 
to-day, 254, 259 

Chateau de Ramezay, 311 sqq. 

Chateau Frontenac, 264 

Chateau le Grande, legend of, 235 
sqq. 

Chateau St. Louis, 263 sqq. 

Chaudiere River, 286 sqq.; valley 
of, 287; falls of, 287 sqq. 

Chauvin, Pierre, associate of Cham- 
plain, 51; plants a colony at 
Tadousac, 53; pioneer of Catho- 
licism in Canada, 214 

Chicoutimi, town of, 219 sqq.; 
River, 220 

Christmas-tide, 282; legend, 282 
sqq. 

Clayton, 7 

Closse, Lambert, 307 

Colbert, chosen comptroller, 137 

College, first, in Canada, 105 

Colonists of Canada, 272 sqq. 

Columbus, discoverer of America, 
17 sqq. 

"Company of Canada,' 210 



Index 



357 



Conquest of Canada, outcome of, 
197 sqq. 

Cornwall, 332 

Cornwallis, Marquis, English gen- 
eral, 320 

Cooper, J. Fenimore, scene of 
Pathfinder laid in Thousand Is- 
lands, 340 sqq.; "Station Is- 
land," 349 

Courcelles, Sieur de, 137 sqq. 

Coureur du bois, an unprofitable 
element, 88; trade ruined, 102; 
menace to society, 139; in 
"winter raids," 154; at close 
range, 162; personal appearance, 
163; object of, 164 

Crane's Island, romance of, 235 sqq. 

Cree Indians, 24 

Cremazie, quotation from, des- 
criptive of the Thousand Islands, 

35° 
Crown Point, where Champlain en- 
countered the Mohawks, 67; 
building of fort, 176; fort of, 
296 sqq. 

D 

Daniel, Father, 105 

Daulac, Adam, heroism of, 123 sqq.; 
his fate, 134; figure in bas-re- 
liefs of Maisonneuve monument, 

307 . 
Dauversiere, treachery of, 121 
Demons, Isle of, 45 ; legend of 

marooned lovers, 46 sqq. 
Denonville, Marquis de, succeeds 

to governorship of Canada, 149; 

his infamous course, 150; builds 

fort at Niagara, 151; recalled, 

i53 

Devil and the Wind, a story, 306 

Dollard. See Daulac 

Dongan, Colonel, Governor of New 
York, 148; scheme to catch St. 
Lawrence trade, 149 

Donnacona, chief of Indians at 
Quebec, greeting to Cartier, 31 
sqq.; friendly to the new-comers, 
35 ; kindness to Cartier during 
the "white winter," 37; taken 
captive by Cartier, 38 sqq.; fate, 
43; spot where he first met the 
St. Malo navigator, 250 

Downie, Admiral, killed in battle 
of Lake Champlain, 209 

Duchesnau, Marquis, second In- 
tendant, 142 

Dufferin Terrace, 260 



Du Plessis, Pacifique, founder of 

Three Rivers, 272 
Dupuy, Paul, hero of Onondaga 

Mission, 121 
Duquen, Pere, at Tadousac, 214 
Durell, Admiral, squadron at lie 

aux Coudres, 229 



E 



Earthquakes, 228 sqq. 
Eastern Townships, 289 sqq., 294 
Education, suppression of, 90 
English force in Montreal, in 1775, 

315. 

Eternity, Bay, 223; Cape, 223 

F 

Fairs, 90 

Farmhouses, early, 278 sqq. 

Fenian insurrection, 337 

Fishing neglected, 88 

Fitzgerald's love romance, 252 sqq. 

Five Nations, Champlain's raid 
against, 62 sqq.; dominion of, 
68; early condition, 69 sqq., 105; 
armistice between them and the 
English, 119; humbled by Fron- 
tenac, 160; origin of feud with 
Algonquins, 346 sqq. See In- 
dians 

Flag of Champlain, 80 sqq. 

Fleur-de-lis, the standard of France, 
81 sqq.; succeeded by the tri- 
colour, 82 

Floods of St. Lawrence River, 5 

Flowers of conquest, 255 sqq. 

Fort Crevecceur, 146 

Fort Frontenac, 179, 352 

Fort Haldimand, 342 

Fort Niagara, built by Denonville, 

151 

France's ingratitude to Canada, 
175 sqq. 

Francis the First, 18 

Franklin, Benjamin, AmericanCom- 
missioner, 315 

French treatment of the Indians, 
68 sqq. 

Frontenac, Count Louis de Baude, 
de, 16; his character, 139 sqq.; ap- 
pointed Governor of Canada, 
140; encourages exploration, 141 ; 
establishes fort at Cataraqui, 141 
sqq.; patron of La Salle, 144; 
quarrels with the Intendant, 
148; gets into trouble with 
Jesuits, 148; succeeded by La 



358 



Index 



Frontenac — Continued 

Barre, 148; affairs become worse 
after his recall, 150 sqq.; re- 
stored, 153; "winter raids," 154; 
rallies to meet Phips, 156; defies 
the New Englander, 157; per- 
sonal appearance, 157; rise in 
fortune following defeat of Phips, 
158; invades region of Hudson 
Bay, 159; last blow against the 
Iroquois, 159 sqq.; his death, 
160 sqq.; portrait in Chateau St. 
Louis, 263 

Fur-trade, beginning of, 51 ; mono- 
poly of, 58; makes more trouble, 
62; condition of, 1635, 83 sqq.; 
made over to the people, 87; re- 
sult, 88; traffic in beaver, 89; 
becomes prosperous, 159; evils 
of, 162 ; increase of, 174 sqq., 314 ; 
uncertain rights, 215 sqq. 



Gananoque, 350 

Gaspe\ compared to Tadousac, 212 

Gaspe Bay, 27 

George, Lake, 296 sqq. 

Glooscap, 27 

Gouffre, 223 sqq. 

"Grand Pass," 297, 299 

Grand Trunk Railway, 303 

Grant, William, bought Chateau de 

Ramezay, 314 
Great Lakes, missions of, 125 sqq.; 

loss of, 147 
Gr^solon, Daniel de, 311 
Griffin, first vessel on Lake Erie, 

145 sqq.; loss of, 147 

H 

Habitans, 143, 228, 275 sqq., 282 
sqq. 

Haddock, J. R., description of 
"Station Island," 349 

Ha Ha Bay, 219 

Harvest festival, 280 sqq. 

Hebert, Louis, first householder in 
Canada, 73; gardens of, 82; 
well-doing of, 85 sqq. 

Heck, Barbara, founder of Method- 
ism in Canada, 335 

Helen's Isle, 303 

Hennepin, explores upper Missis- 
sippi, 136, 142 

"Heroic Period," 136 

Hiawatha, legend of, 348 

Hochelaga, 34 sqq., 300 sqq. 



Hochelaga River, 40 

"Holy Wars of Montreal," 122 

Homesteads, 278 sqq., 286 

Hudson Bay Company, expiration 
of lease and result to Canada, 
216 

Huguenots expelled, 83 

"Hundred Associates, formed by 
Richelieu, 76 sqq.; resume con- 
trol of affairs, 82 ; throw up 
charter, 137 

"Hungry year," 205 sqq. 

Huron mission, 10 1 



I 



Iberville, Sieur d', 159, 319 

lie aux Chevreuils, 342 

lie aux Coudres, 229; first mass, 231; 

scenery, 231 
He de Grosse, 235 
Indian name for Thousand Islands, 

6; name of St. Lawrence, 40 
Indian schools at Quebec, 105 
Indians of Canada, 35 sqq.; treat- 
ment by the French, 68 sqq.; 
methods of warfare, 7 1 ; at Que- 
bec, 82 ; fealty to the French, 155 
Indian trails, old, 282; "roads of 

iron," 325 
Indian tribes: 

Abnakis, break their pledge, 
1 54 sqq.; duplicate the horrors 
of the Iroquois, 159; settle at 
St. Francis, 271 
Algonquins, join the Hurons in 
Champlain's first raid against 
the Iroquois, 63 sqq.; lodg- 
ment on the Ottawa, 126; 
with Daulac, 127 sqq.; brav- 
ery in fight, 134; settle near 
Three Rivers, St. Francis, 
Lake of the Two Mountains, 
271 ; legend of, 345 sqq.; origin 
of feud against the Five Na- 
tions, 346 sqq. 
Hurons, inhabitants of Hoche- 
laga, 3 5 ; secure Champlain as 
an ally against the Iroquois, 
63 ; feud between them and 
the Five Nations, 64; allies of 
Daulac, 127 sqq.; the faithful 
chief, 133 sqq.; Kandironk 
proves himself equal to Den- 
onville in cunning, 152; claim 
to lands, 270; death of chief. 
306 



Index 



359 



Indian tribes — Continued 

Iroquois, feud between them and 
the Algonquins, 64; sue for 
peace, 102; resolve to clear 
Canada of French, 114; in- 
crease of bitterness, 120, 122; 
fight against Daulac and his 
band, 123 sqq.; raid on La 
Chine, 152; greater bitterness, 
159; sue for peace again, 160; 
fate of four warriors in Mon- 
treal, 309 sqq.; agriculturists, 
346; origin of feud, 346 sqq. 

Koksoaks, leading trait, 24 

Little Whale River, remarkable 
boatmen, 23 

Mohawks, defeated in battle by 
Champlain, 67; raided by the 
French under Courcelles and 
De Tracy, 138; re-open hos- 
tilities, 148 sqq.; massacre at 
La Chine, 152; become Cana- 
dian citizens, 206; their trail 
into the St. Lawrence valley, 
339 sqq. 

Montagnais, at Sillery, 99; of 
to-day, 213; mission closed, 
225 sqq. 

Nipissings, settle at Lake of Two 
Mountains, 271 

Oneidas, flee before Frontenac, 
159 sqq. 

Onondagas, repulse Champlain 
and his dusky allies, 71 ; town 
of, 71; methods of warfare, 
72; mission of, 338 

Ottawas, first to trade with the 
French, 100; their domains 
the Thessaly of old Canada, 
100 sqq. 

Senecas, one of their chiefs in 

command against Daulac, 129 ; 

routed by Denonville, 150 

sqq. 

Inhabitants of Canada, 274 sqq. 

See Habitans, Noblesse, Colonists, 

Loyalists, Social life, Harvest 

festival, and Indians 
"Iroquois river gate," 298 sqq. 
Isle of Orleans, scene of Wolfe's 

disembarkation, 181; known as 

"Wizard's Isle," 240, 253 



"Jay Treaty," 339 
Jesuit Relations, 106; quotations 
from, 324 sqq. 



Jesuits, aims of, 83 ; encouraged to 
carry gospel west, 84; missions 
established, 95 sqq.; oppose Fron- 
tenac, 148; martial spirit of, 175 

Jogues, Pere Isaac, experiences of, 
118; martyr, 321 

Johnson, James, extract from his 
journal, 297; captivity of his 
daughter, 329 

Johnston, Captain, account of first 
running the rapids, ^^^ sqq. 

Johnston, Kate, heroine of the 
"patriot war," 336 

Johnston, William, leader of rebels 
during "patriot war," 336 sqq. 

Joliet, Sieur, at Beaumanoir, 256; 
discovers Mississippi River, 320 

K 

Kalm, Swedish botanist, writes of 
Canadian traits, 91 

Kandironk, "the Rat," "kills the 
peace," 152; death of, 306 

Kertk, Sir David, conquest of 
Canada, 78 sqq. 

Kingston, 6, 142; the capital, 316, 
351 sqq.; Sandhurst of Canada, 
351; Martello towers, 351; ship- 
building , 352; education , 352; 
manufacturing, 352; gateway to 
the west, 352 

Kirke. See Kertk 



L'Acadie, 54 

La Barre, Governor, succeeds Fron- 
tenac, 148; failure of, 149; suc- 
ceeded by Denonville, 149 

La Chine, rapids of, 1 1 ; estate of 
La Salle, 139; massacre of, 152; 
canal, 323 sqq.; obstacles of 
early travel here, 323; descrip- 
tion of hardships by a Jesuit, 
324 sqq.; portages, 325; build- 
ing of canal, 327; climbing the 
rapids, 328; town of, 329 

Lake of the Thousand Islands, 345 ; 
legend of, 346 

Lake of the Two Mountains, 309 

Lalement, Gabriel, martyr, 32 ; per- 
formed last services at Cham- 
plain's funeral, 86; great efforts, 

97 
La Mothe, founder of Detroit, 311 

La Prairie, portage of, 296 
La Presentation, mission of, 338 
sqq., 343 sqq. 



36o 



Index 



La Salle, Chevalier de, the ex- 
plorer, 136, 139, 141 sqq.; re- 
builds Fort Frontenac, 144; 
builds first vessel on Lake Erie, 
• 145 ; checkered fortunes, 145 sqq.; 
fate, 148; character, 148; at 
Beaumanoir under Talon, 256; 
portrait in gallery at Chateau St. 
Louis, 263; debt of New France 
to him, 264; in Montreal, 310; 
old house on Lower La Chine 
road, 310 

Lauretian Mountains, 241; oldest 
in the world, 252 

Laval, Francois de, first bishop, 
136; restored to the episcopate, 
142; combines with the Jesuits 
against Frontenac, 148; portrait 
in Chateau St. Louis gallery, 264 ; 
proposed monument to his mem- 
ory, 264; University of, 265; 
sepulture of, 266; portrait now 
in gallery at Chateau de Rame- 
zay, 320 

Le Chien d' Or, 264 sqq. 

Le Jeune, Pere, arrives in Quebec, 
82; at Three Rivers, 84 ; portrait 
in gallery at Chateau de Rame- 
zay, 320 

Les Eboulements, 231 

Levis, Marquis de, 177, 196, 269, 

3°3. 3 J 9 
L' Incarnation, Marie de, 108 
Little Whale River Indians, 23 
Long Sault rapids, 9 
Longueuil mansion, 311 
Lost Channel, story of, 342 sqq. 
Louisbourg, captured by the Eng- 
lish, 1745, 176 
Louis the Great, 137, 264 
Lower St. Lawrence, scenery of, 

21, 24, 25, 30, 31; political 

situation in 1828, 210 
Lower Town, Quebec, 249 sqq.; 

picture of, 253; market, 265 

sqq. 
Loyalists in Canada, 69, 199, 294 

sqq. 
Lundy's Lane, battle of, 208 

M 

Magdalene Islands, 19 

Maids and matrons of New France, 
107 

Maisonneuve, Paul Chomedy de, 
missionary settlement at Mon- 
treal founded by, 100; worthy to 



wear the mantle of Champlain, 
no, 112; prudence and heroism 
of, 115 sqq.; portrait of, 115; 
statue of, 307 sqq. 

Manatoana, Indian name for the 
Thousand Islands, 345 sqq. 

Mance, Mademoiselle, no; cares 
for the wounded, 121; returns to 
France, 122 

Marguerie, Francois, the Regulus 
of Canada, in 

Marquette, Father Jacques, founds 
first mission in Michigan, Sault 
Ste. Marie, 136; death of, 136; 
visits to Beaumanoir under 
Talon, 256; discovered, with 
Joliet, the Mississippi, 320 

Massacre of La Chine by the Iro- 
quois, 152 

Massacres of Cedars, Cherry Val- 
ley, Stony Arabia, and Wyo- 
ming planned at Carleton Island, 
341 sqq. 

McDonough's victory on Lake 
Champlain, 208 sqq. 

Memphremagog, Lake, 296 

Mesplet, Fleury, first printer in 
Montreal, 316 

Methodist church, first, in Canada, 
334 sqq. 

Metis, 31 

Missions, rivalry with trade, 74; 
story of, 95 sqq.; of Montreal 100, 
107; need of money, 122; of 
Sault Ste. Marie, 136; of Mon- 
tagnais, 225; of Martyrs, 321; of 
La Presentation, 338 sqq. 

Mistassini, Lake, 221 

Mohawks, defeated by Champlain, 
67; at head of Five Nations, 68. 
See Indians 

Molson, John, projector of first 
steamboat, 304 

Montcalm, Marquis de, one of the 
great trio of New France, 161; 
in command of the French army, 
177; adverse circumstances, 178; 
victorious at Ticonderoga and 
Fort William Henry, 179; troops 
of, 180; last message, before 
battle of the Plains, 182; in- 
formed of Wolfe's attack, 187 
sqq.; death of, 189 sqq.; sepul- 
ture, 190; his family, 190 sqq.; 
his prediction, 199; his monu- 
ment, 260; passage up the 
Richelieu River, 299; portrait at 
Chateau de Ramezay, 320 



Index 



361 



Montgomery, General, in command 
of the American army, 201; 
hastens to Arnold's assistance 
before Quebec, 201; plan of at- 
tack on Quebec, 202; repulse 
and death, 203 sqq.; sepulture, 
204; tablet to his memory, 204; 
path, 250; passage down the 
Richelieu River, 299; capture 
of Montreal, 315 
Montmagny, M. de, succeeds Cham- 
plain, 87; his work, 109; op- 
poses settlement of Montreal, 
no 
Montmorenci, M. de Laval de, 265 
Montmorency Falls, 247, 254 
Mont Royale. See Mount Royal 
Montreal, glimpse of, 11; begin- 
ning of, no; site of Ville-Marie 
dedicated, 112; arrival of Mai- 
sonneuve, 112 sqq.; a prison pen, 
114; attack upon the little band 
under Maisonneuve by the Iro- 
quois, 116 sqq.; days of anxiety, 
120 sqq.; appeal for aid from 
France, 122; "Holy Wars of 
Montreal," 122; threatened by 
the Iroquois, 122; Daulac forms 
his band, 123; defence of the 
brave men, 124 sqq.; La Salle 
comes to Montreal, 139; Iro- 
quois come here to treat with 
Frontenac, 148; militia of New 
York moves against Montreal, 
155; Frontenac here receives 
word of Colonel Winthrop's raid 
on_ La Prairie, 156; news of 
Phips's expedition reaches here, 
157; Frontenac hastens to Que- 
bec, 156; rejoicing over the 
escape from Phips, 158; voy- 
ageurs from Montreal, 171 ; popu- 
lation of, 1758, 177; surrender 
of the English, 1760, 196 sqq.; 
during invasion of Americans 
in 1775-6, 201; magnet of popu- 
lation, 273; oldest town on the 
St. Lawrence, 300; arrival of 
Champlain, 300 sqq.; Mount 
Royal , 301; the " white city , " 
301; scenery of, 302; Victoria 
Bridge, 302; environments of, 
303; built on terraces, 304; 
Notre Dame, 304; first church, 
305; old Recollet Gate, 306; 
squares and parks, 307; statue 
of Maisonneuve, 307; Daulac, 
307 sqq.; view from Mount 



Royal, 308 sqq.; Cartier Square, 
309; fate of four Iroquois war- 
riors, 309 sqq.; Place Royale, 310; 
site of La Salle's house, 310; De 
Gresolon's house, site of, 311 ; La 
Mothe, tablet, 311; seigniory of 
Sieur de Verandrye, 311; Bonse- 
cours Market, 311; Chateau de 
Ramezay, 311; its builder, 312; 
his wife, 312; glory of the times, 
3i3;_ death of De Ramezay, 314; 
William Grant buys chateau, 
314; American Commissioners 
meet here, 315; first newspaper 
in city founded, 316; Numis- 
matic and Antiquarian Society 
get possession of Chateau de 
Ramezay, 317; memoirs of the 
chateau, 318 sqq.; library, 319; 
portrait gallery, 3 19 sqq.; popu- 
lation of city, 321; metropolis, 
322. See Mount Royal 

Monts, Sieur de, his character, 51 
sqq.; first voyage, 55; colony, 
56; exploration of New England 
coast, 57 sqq.; gets control of 
fur-trade, 58; charges against 
him, 58; clears his name, 59 

Monument "To the Brave," 262 

Moore, Thomas, boating song, 252 

Mount Brome, 295 

Mount Hermon, 262 

Mount Orford, 295 

Mount Royal, glimpse of, n; Car- 
tier's first visit, 36; Champlain's 
first visit, 54; peerless watcher, 
301 

Murray Bay, 226 

Murray, General James, successor 
of General Townshend at Quebec, 
193; appointed governor, 197; 
his defeat, 262; author of plan 
of scaling Anse du Foulon by 
Wolfe, 320 



N 



New England aroused over Fron- 
tenac's raids, 155; joins with 
New York in conquest of Canada, 
156 sqq. 

New Englanders in Canada, 199. 
See Loyalists 

New England Rangers at siege of 
Quebec, 188 sqq.; sent for relief, 

193 
New France, 17 
Newspaper, first, in Canada, 92 sqq. 



362 



Index 



Niagara, campaign, in 1812 war, 
208 

Niagara, fort of, 176 

Nicollet, Jean, 85, 105 

Noblesse, 143, 157 

Notre Dame, largest cathedral, 117; 
description of, 304 sqq.; mid- 
night mass, 305 

Notre Dame de la Victoire, 265 sqq. 

Notre Dame de la Recouvrance , 266 

Noue, Anne de la, arrives in Quebec, 
82 

Novus Orbis, first atlas, 15 

Numismatic and Antiquarian So- 
ciety, 317 

Nun's Island, n 



O 



Ogden, Samuel, founder of city of 
Ogdensburg, 339 

Ogdensburg, city of, 8, 338 

Old regime, 298 sqq. 

Onondaga Indians, 7 1 ; town of, 
71; mission, site of Ogdensburg, 

,338. 

Onontio, Indian name for Fronte- 
nac, 154 

Ontario, first steamship to run the 
rapids, 333 sqq. 

Ontario, Province of, scenery, 100 
sqq. 

Orleans, Isle of, 32 sqq., 102 

Oswego, fort at, built by English, 
176 

Ottawa, city of, made capital, 316 

Ottawa Indians, 100 

Ottawa River, 100; joins the St. 
Lawrence, 329; waters do not 
mingle, 329 sqq.; once the out- 
let of the Great Lakes, 330 



Parish Church, 305 
"Patriot war," the, 335 sqq. 
Peasant population, 198 
Peltrie, Madame de la, founds 
Ursuline convent at Quebec, 108 
Perce" Rock, 27 sqq.; legend of, 28 

' ' Period of Great Immigration , " 210 

Petit Cap, 241 

Phillibert, M., 264 sqq. 

Phips's expedition against Quebec, 

.155 sqq. 
Pilote, the dog of Ville-Marie, 115 

sqq. 



Pilots, lack of, 89 

Place d'Armes, 117 

Place Royale, 310 

Plains of Abraham, 186 sqq.; bat- 
tle of, 186 sqq.; second battle of, 
192 sqq.; view from, 250 sqq.; as 
a public park, 260 sqq. 

Point de Montes, 14 

Point Levis, t>2> "> rival of Cape Dia- 
mond, 251 ; country beyond, 252 
sqq. 

Pointe aux Trembles, 200, 202 

Political power, weakness of, 177 
sqq. 

Pontgrave\ 51 sqq.; goes to Tadou- 
sac, 56; his successors, 214 

Population of Canada, in 1633, 84; 
in 1670, 139; in 1700, 174 sqq.; 
in 1756, 177; in 1791, 210; in 
1831, 210; of Montreal, in 1904, 

3 21 . 

Porpoises, catching of, 229 sqq. 

Portage de I' Enfant, 220 

Portages, the "terrible carrying- 
place" of Arnold's winter march 
to Canada, 287; of the St. 
Lawrence, 324 sqq.; "roads of 
iron," 326; to-day "links of 
silver," 328 

Poutrincourt, Baron de, 55 

Prescott, 334 sqq.; during Fenian 
insurrection, 337 

Pres-de-ville, 203 

Prevost, Sir George, head of Eng- 
lish invasion of the States, 208; 
retreat, 209 

Prince Edward's Island, 19 



Q 



Quebec, 12; view from, by Oar- 
tier, 33; original, 61; early 
colonists, 72 sqq.; straits of colo- 
nists, 78; captured by Kertk, 80; 
terms of capitulation, 80; bright 
years at, 83 ; as a shipbuilding 
town, 93 ; sent first steamship 
across the Atlantic from the 
St. Lawrence, 94; shipping at 
present time, 94; growth un- 
der Montmagny, 100; increased 
boldness of the Iroquois, 120; 
made capital, 137; fire of 1682, 
153; second arrival of Frontenac, 
153; during Phips's attack, 156 
sqq.; population of, 1756, 177; 
siege of, 179 sqq.; battle of the 
Plains, 184 sqq.; sepulture of 



Index 



3°3 



Quebec — Continued 

Montcalm, 190 sqq.; second bat- 
tle of the Plains, 194 sqq.; Act 
of, 198; Montgomery's attack, 
200 sqq.; origin of name, 248; 
fortifications, 249; Lower Town, 
249 sqq.; citadel, 250 sqq.; Plains 
of Abraham, 250; view from, 
251 sqq.; only walled city, 253; 
famous terrace, 263; Chateau 
St. Louis, 263; city of churches, 
265; Chateau Frontenac, 264; 
University of Laval, 265; Queen 
Victoria gives the Laval institu- 
tion the status of a university, 
265 ; Lower Town again, 266 sqq.; 
in winter, 266 sqq.; north bank 
above, 269 sqq. 



R 



Ramesay, Commandant de, sur- 
renders Quebec to the English, 
191 

Ramezay, Governor de, built Cha- 
teau de Ramezay, 312 sqq.; death 
of, 314 

Ramezay, Chateau de, 311 sqq. 

Rapids of the St. Lawrence River, 
8; running the Rapids of La 
Chine, 9 sqq. 

Rebellion Losses Bill, 211, 316 

Recollets, first arrivals in New 
France, 96 sqq.; removed to 
other fields, 83 ; faithful to 
Frontenac, 198; at Tadousac, 
213 

Richelieu, Cardinal, ambition of, 
75 sqq.; forms his company of 
"Hundred Associates," 77 sqq.; 
scheme of an empire, 242; 
sepulture of, 266 

Richelieu River, the "Grand Pass," 
2gS sqq.; "Iroquois river gate," 

2 99 
Richelieu River valley, land of the 

buttercup, 297 sqq. 
Rimouski, 31 
Rivers, importance of, as boundary 

lines, 1 
Riviere des Prairies, 309 
Riviere du Loup, 227 
Roberval, Sieur de, made Vice- 
Royal over New France, 42 ; 

deserted by Cartier, 45 sqq.; 

reaches the St. Lawrence, 46; 

winter at Stadacone\ 47 sqq.; 

fate of, 49 



Roebuck, first white man to run La 

Chine Rapids, 334 
Rogers, Major Robert, chief of the 

New England Rangers, sent to 

take Fort Pontchartrain, 197; 

raid on St. Francis, 293 ; portrait 

at Chateau de Ramezay, 321 
Rohaut, Rene de, established a 

school and college at Quebec, 105 
Roquemont, de, in command of 

fleet, 78; captured by English, 

s 

Saguenay River, 13, 16, 32; ren- 
dezvous of voyageurs, 171; the 
dark waters, 213; ascent of, 216 
sqq.; rocky barriers, 221; two 
phases of, 222 

Ste. Anne de Beaupre, old church, 
242 sqq.; miracles of, 245 sqq. 

Ste. Anne des Monts, 20, 31 

Ste. Anne, patron saint, 242 ; legend 
of, 243 sqq. 

Ste. Anne, of Saguenay region, 220 

Sainte Anne, village of, 241 

St. Catherine's Bay, 32 

St. Charles River, 37, 254 

St. Croix, settlement, 56; removal 
from, 58 

Ste. Foye, battlefield, 261 sqq.; See 
"second battle of the Plains," 
monument "To the Brave," 262 

St. Francis, mission of, 99; settle- 
ment of, 271; resort of Indians, 
291 sqq.; springs of, 291; town 
of , 292 ; river of, war trail in days 
of Indian warfare, 292; source, 
293 ; course, 294 

St. John, Lake, 221 

St. Lawrence River, bounds of, 3 ; 
width of, 3 ; tide of, 3 ; bay of, 
2 1 ; scenery of lower section, 2 1 , 
24, 30 sqq.; linked to the Gulf of 
Mexico, 147; scenery of northern 
shore above Tadousac, 226; 
southern shore, 226 sqq.; sunset, 
331; great volume of water, 352 

St. Louis, Chateau, built by Cham- 
plain, 263; portraits of, 263 sqq. 

St. Louis, Lake, 328 sqq. 

St. Luc, Lacorne de, 319 

St. Malo, 19 

St. Ours, Captain, 299 

St. Peter, Lake, 12; fort of, 118; 
historic waters, 291 

St. Regis, settlement of, 271; town 
of, 332; bell and story of, 332 sqq. 



364 



Index 



Saint Simon, Due de, northern trip, 

214 
Ste. Th^rese, island of, 65 
Salaberry, General de, at battle of 

Chateaugay River, 207 
Sault au R^collets, mission of, 100 
School for Indian children, 105 
Schuyler, Fort, 297 
Seigneurial families, 198 
Seven Years' War declared, 176; 

trail of, 299 
Sherbrooke, 290, 294 
Shipbuilding, beginning of, 89 
Sillery, Noel Brulart, 98; mission 

of, 98; Ursuline sisters at mis- 
sion of, 109; historic village, 

269 sqq. 
Social life in New France, 281 sqq. 
Society of Jesus. See Jesuits 
Society of Notre Dame de Montreal 

organised, no 
Sorel, 12; fort of, 296; Captain, 

299 
Soulanges Canal, 330 sqq. 
Split Rock, locks of, 328 
Stadacone\ 16, 32; ruin of, 62 
Stark, Captain William, at siege of 

Quebec, 188 sqq. 
Steamboat, first on the river, 304; 

first to run the rapids, 333 sqq. 
Sulpicians, 100; opposed by the 

Government, 141 
Sunset on the St. Lawrence, 331 

sqq. 

T 

Tadousac, 5 1 ; made a trading post, 
53, 59; captured by Kertk, 78; 
first French station, 212; nat- 
ural features, 212 sqq.; situa- 
tion of, 224 
Talon, Jean Baptiste, first Intend- 
ant, encourages shipbuilding, 
89; encourages exploration, 138 
sqq.; patron of La Salle, 139 sqq., 
256; portrait at Chateau St. 
Louis, 263 
Tecumseh, at Moravian Town, 207 
Thayendanaga, rendezvous of, 341 
Thoreau, quotations from, 272, 298 
Thousand Islands, Indian name of, 
6; park of, 6; scene of Cooper's 
novel The Pathfinder, 340 
Three Rivers, 12; founding of , 84; 
epidemic of, 84; mission of, 98; 
Indians at, 271; outlet of St. 
Maurice River, 272 sqq.; time of 
Carrier's voyage, 291 



Ticonderoga, Fort, 297 

Tide, of the St. Lawrence River, 3; 

head of, 273 
Tonty of "the silver hand," 136, 

144 sqq. 
Townshend, General, succeeds 

Wolfe in command at Quebec, 

191 
Trade Act of the Imperial Parlia- 
ment, 210 
Trade with West Indies, 176 
Treaty, of Utrecht, 69 ; of St. Ger- 

maine-Laye, 82 ; of Ryswick, 160; 

of Paris, 199; of Jay, 339; of 

J783, 339 
Tri-colour succeeds the fleur-de-lis 

as standard of France, 82 
Trinity, Bay, 222; Cape, 222 



U 



Ungava district, 23 

Union of the two provinces, 211 

United Colonies of New England, 

118 
University of Laval, 265 



Vaudreuil, succeeds Frontenac,i76; 

death of, 176; succeeded by 

Beauharnois, 176; fortune of, 

312 sqq. 
Velasco, 26 

Verandrye, Sieur de la, 311 
Verrazzano, 17 
Victoria Bridge, n, 302 
Victoria, town of, 290 
Vignan, Nicholas, thought to have 

discovered passage to Cathay, 

70 
Ville-Marie de Montreal, settlement 

of, no; dedication of, 112; 

hospital of , 114; attack of, 115; 

constant perils of, 120, 122 
Vikings in America, 26 
Vimont, M. Barthelemy, prophecy 

of, 113 
Von Schoultz, victim of "patriot 

war," 336 sqq. 
Voyageurs, restless energy of, 164; 

phase of life, 165; garb of, 165; 

personal appearance of, 166; 

canoes of, 166; trips of, 167; 

songs of, 168; Cadieux, 169; 

his Lament, 170; rendezvous of, 

171; en route, 174 



Index 



365 



w 



Walker, Sir Hoveden, loss of his 

fleet, 266 
War of 1812, sentiment of, 206; 

result of, to Canada, 209 
War-trails between New France and 

New England, by the Chaudiere 

River, 286; by the St. Francis, 

292; by the Richelieu, 298 
Wife of Ohamplain, 70 
Wilkinson, General, campaign in 

the St. Lawrence valley, 207 sqq. 
William Henry, Fort, 297 
Windmill, old, at Prescott, 335 
Winter in Quebec, 266 sqq. 
Winthrop, Fitz-John, expedition of 

New York against Montreal, 155 ; 

failure of, 156 



Wives needed in New France, 143 
sqq. 

Wolfe, General James, personality 
of, 179 ; magnitude of his task in 
taking Quebec, 181; account of 
his siege and assault, 182 sqq.; 
story of reciting Gray's Elegy, 
184 sqq.; death of, 188; sepul- 
ture at Greenwich, 191; monu- 
ment on Plains of Abraham, 260 ; 
portrait in Chateau de Ramezay, 
320 

Wolfe's Cove, 269 



Yamaska River, 295 
Young, Hon. John, projector of 
Victoria Bridge, 302 



^vt; 




^ 





S 




& 











f/* 







Map Showing the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario to the Gu 



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NO stream in America is so rich in legends and 
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" Paradise of the Pacific," etc. 

8°. Fully Illustrated. Uniform with ''''The Hudson 
River" Net, $3.50. By express, prepaid, $3.75 

WHILE the St. Lawrence River has been the 
scene of many important events connected 
with the discovery and development of a 
large portion of North America, no attempt has here- 
tofore been made to collect and embody in one volume 
a complete and comprehensive narrative of this great 
waterway. This is not denying that considerable 
has been written relating to it, but the various offer- 
ings have been scattered through many volumes, and 
most of these have become inaccessible to the general 
reader. 

This work presents in a single volume a succinct and 
unbroken account of the most important historic in- 
cidents connected with the river, combined with 
descriptions of some of its most picturesque scenery 
and frequent selections from its prolific sources of 
legends and traditions. In producing the hundred 
illustrations care has been taken to give as wide a 
scope as possible to the views belonging to the 
river. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

New York London 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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